The Swallow and the Dragon
by Flameraiser
Summary: Harry finds a dying ashen haired girl in his backyard being attacked by men in skeleton armor. He obviously swoops in and kills them saving the girl before taking her to his home to heal her. He didn't know the far reaching consequences this would have on him personally. This will start in Harry Potter world but ultimately take place in the Witcher for the most part.
1. Chapter 1

_Harry's POV:_

Harry sat in his study reading a book. _Dark Spells: A History_. He was surprised when he had found this in Potter Manor's library. Of course, the book itself wasn't really that dark. It never really told you how to do a dark spell it just went into the history and creation of many of them. Many had fallen out of use while, many were still being used by dark tossers to this day. The thought of death eaters caused him to look up from his book and think about his supposed arch nemesis Lord Voldemort and his little band of inbred asshats. It had been a few months since he had seen any of them. Actually, it had been a few months since he had seen anyone.

Ever since Sirius's death, and of course since Harry destroyed Dumbledore's office, Harry had left the wizarding world completely. He had gone to Gringotts, looked into all the assets of both the Black, and Potter family, then moved into Potter Manor. He had the goblins apply every ward they knew to keep people out. Harry himself had applied a fidelus charm to the manor. Nowadays the only contact with the outside world was the letters his friends and Dumbledore kept ordering him to return. Harry had simply burned every letter that came through, that mentioned him returning, no matter who it was from. Eventually he completely blocked Dumbledore from sending him mail at all, due to all the tracking charms he kept putting on the letters he sent. He got letters from the ministry ordering him to return, with the threat of consequences.

Harry couldn't care less what the people kept telling him to do. He did feel a little bad for not telling Ron and Hermoine at first. That feeling soon stopped when they started telling him about how they knew what he was going through. They said it was no excuse too stop listening to professor Dumbledore. That was when he started blocking them as well. Now he spent his days practicing magic and reading the books from his truly massive library. When he became the head of the Black family, he got Kreacher to bring the entire Black library to him. He also had put up the wards on Grimmauld Place so the order could no longer use it as their own base. He would honestly feel more bad about that, if the order did ANYTHING to help ANYBODY. Alas, they did not so they got kicked the fuck out. Harry looked back down at his book before putting it down and sighing. The problem with isolation was how boring it could get. Still, it was much better than dealing with the hypocritical wizarding world that seemed to believe that they were done treating him like their personal whipping boy, he should stand up to the big bad dark lord. Honestly Harry wasn't sure what he disliked more, Voldemort or the pathetic masses that refused to do anything about him.

Harry stood up and made his way towards the front door of his manor. He opened the ornate double doors and stepped outside into the cool air. It was overcast as it usually was, though Harry didn't mind much. The coolness had a numbing feeling that he almost mistook for pleasant for one second as he walked towards the woods at the side of his house. It had become somewhat of a routine when he felt the need to clear his head. The forest itself was peaceful and, as far as Harry knew, was not magical in any real way. He had only seen some signs of things larger than squirrels and similar sized animals. Sadly his beautiful, peaceful walk was going to be interrupted

 _Ciri's POV:_

'This is not going well' Ciri thought as she landed on her ass in the middle of a forest on some world that she only hoped the wild hunt could not follow her too. It only took a few more seconds before a blue swirling portal opened up 20 yards away from her, dispelling that hope. Ciri immediately knew what was coming through so she go up and started to run. She had to find somewhere to hide or someone to help her. She heard the familiar barking of the hounds of the wild hunt as they hunted her down. She moved as fast as she could and idly hoped there was no beasts or monsters that would come looking for her. She briefly registered the pain coming from her left leg and immediately knew she snagged her leg on a bush she passed and was bleeding. She grimaced but didn't stop moving. Well didn't stop moving until the navigator came from behind the tree in front of her and smacked his staff into her face.

Ciri looked up from the ground groggily before scrambling to her feet so as not to be taken advantage of in her weakened form. She immediately pulled the sword strapped to her back and got ready for combat. There wasn't much room as they weren't in a clearing but surrounded by trees.

"You only forestall the inevitable Zireael. There is nowhere to run." The navigator said to Ciri. Ciri didn't bother to respond. She knew she was really pinned in a corner as she knew the rest of the wild hunt had finally caught up to her and she was going to have to fight them. She was already tired for all the energy she used to come to this world in the first place, albeit accidentally. She sensed more than saw the warrior charging at her back. She twisted her body impossibly quick for someone as tired and injured as she. She brought her blade up and used it to redirect the warrior's blade to her right as she stepped to the left. She then stabbed her blade straight through his chest cavity and pulled the blade out. She immediately jumped to the right as another one of the warriors charged from the right. She didn't even bother countering the attack, and instead simply side-stepped before stabbing her blade into his neck through the gaps in his armor.

It was unfortunate that she couldn't react fast enough to spin around and stop the wild hound stalking up behind her. She screamed as the beast bit into her calf and yanked her to the ground. The pain was almost too much for her as the beasts continued to bite and scratch her all over before the warriors called them off her. The Navigator walked up to her.

"You should not have resisted little swallow. You have only caused yourself more pain." the Navigator said as he stood over her. Ciri looked up for him as she was slowly losing consciousness.

'Damn! I can't believe I'm going to die like this. I'll...never get to see Geralt or Yen ever again. I...I'm scared!' Ciri thought as she faded further and further from consciousness.

"What in the possibly nine hells are you doing?" was the last thing she heard before fully losing consciousness.

 _Harry's POV:_

"What in the possibly nine hells are you doing?" Harry asked as he came upon what was probably the weirdest scene he had ever seen was quite a few large men in skeleton armor crowding around an ashen haired girl that was bleeding profusely in the middle of forest. In his forest.

"Mortal, this does not concern you. Leave now while you still have the chance." said what Harry assumed to be the de facto leader of this creepy little band.

"Leave? I think you are confused. This is my forest you currently in. You do not get to walk through here and then tell me what I should and shouldn't do. Back away from the girl. I will only ask once." Harry said as he pulled out his wand subtly from it's hiding place.

"You had your chance. Kill the hu-" The lead man tried to say before a red bolt smashed into his chest. His armor immediately caved in under the blast and he flew twenty feet backwards before crashing painfully into a tree. The rest of the warriors made the mistake of watching their leader fly through the air and into the tree, instead of watching the person who just sent their leader into said tree. While they were watching their leader, Harry started to transfigure one of the rocks near him into a grizzly bear. A giant grizzly bear to be specific. The bear charged, and immediately swatted two more of the warriors to the ground while also possibly caving their skulls in as they dropped. Harry then shot a new spell he recently learnt at the hounds gathering to attack him.

" _flammis acribus"_ Harry yelled as a flame jumped out and started burning everything in its way. Harry smirked at the spell. It was no fiendfyre but it certainly was a hell of a lot more powerful than the incendio. Harry watched as the spell tore into the beast who at first seemed to be able to take the spell but was clear that they couldn't last long against its harsh fury. Harry turned his attention back to the few remaining warriors. Sadly it seemed as if they were killing his bear. Harry cast a reducto at what appeared to be the most injured of the warriors and watched it smash into his skull, killing him instantly. The remaining two turned to him now that the bear was finished.

"This is the part where I usually say surrender but you've caught me at a bad time and have also revealed yourself to be excellent stress relievers." Harry said as he glared at the last living members whose outfits now reminded him of death eaters and their skull mask, which only made it easier to kill them. As he had seen first-hand what happens when you didn't finish your enemies off. The two ran at him, hoping to finish him. Harry couldn't decide if that was a smart move or not. On one hand, wizards were usually much weaker against close range attacks. On the other hand, it gave them less room to dodge spells he threw at them. He pointed his wand and used another spell he had learned recently.

" _magna alveo"_ Harry called out as he moved his wand in the correct motion. Immediately a loud screeching noise came from the end of his wand and blasted its way towards the warriors. They both dropped to their knees and screamed in pain while clutching the sides of their heads. Harry kept it up until he saw them both pass out from what he assumed was a sensory overload. With that out of the way Harry started the annoying clean up process. He levitated all the bodies and created a big pile of them. He walked over to the tree where he had thrown the leader only to find a blood smear, and no sign of the man. Harry squinted in anger knowing that one got away. He used the point me charm to see if he could track him, but the spell wouldn't work and he could see no visible trail to follow. He turned back and saw the ashen haired girl still on the ground. Harry's eyes widened as he forgot that she was actually injured and could possibly bleed out.

"Kreacher!" Harry yelled. Immediately the grumpy house elf appeared.

"What does filthy half-blood master want from Kreacher?" the house elf asked.

"Take the girl back to the manor. Put her in the biggest guest bedroom we have. Dress her wounds to stop the bleeding. I'll join you soon. And be quick!" Harry said. Kreacher nodded and apparated the girl and himself away. Harry turned back towards the pile of bodies. He cast his fire curse at the pile of bodies and watched them burst before jogging back towards his home. Kreacher was pretty good, but he knew no healing magic to fix the girl and could only delay her demise.

Harry finally reached his home once again and entered it as fast as he could.

"Kreacher!" He yelled. The elf immediately appeared and looked at him.

"Did you dress the girl's wounds and put her in the guest room?" Harry asked. Kreacher just nodded at him.

"Good. Bring me the preserved potions from the potions lab in the chest marked 'Healing' and put it in the room for me. Then go to the forest and make sure that once the bodies are done burning that the fire is put out and doesn't burn the forest to the ground. After that, erase any trace of what happened here. Then go put up the wards on the portion of the forest that I own, I have put that off for too long. After that you can do whatever you normally do to keep busy." Harry said. Kreacher nodded and popped away to do what he was told. When Harry had first found out he had gotten Kreacher, he had gave him a lot of my commands to make sure he ever purposefully betrayed him or gave away any of his secrets. He also said for him to come to Harry if he needed clarification on any orders he was to receive and to not interpret them any way he wished. Kreacher had not been happy but had done what Harry had told him. In exchange, Harry let the house elf call him whatever he wanted.

Harry did a fast walk up the stairs and entered the guest room he specified. He saw the girl laying on the bed very still and pale. Harry walked up to her and saw that Kreacher had removed her white blouse to dress her. Not that Harry could see anything since the wrappings covered everything lower than her shoulders. Harry fully removed the covers to get a full overview of what he was dealing with. He noticed her tan trousers were still on but were rolled up to her knee caps because her left leg was dressed on the ankle and calf. Harry also noticed that while her torso and legs were dressed there was blood leaking through, meaning the wounds either hit arteries or were very deep. It could have been both. Harry summoned the potion chest Kreacher had brought him so that it was next to him. He turned back to the girl and started to slowly undress the girl. He tried to make sure not to stare at anything he wasn't supposed to, but he was a teenage boy and they were literally right in front of him. He felt a light blush on his cheeks but didn't let it slow him down.

He started to use some of the limited healing spells he had learned to stop the bleeding that was still very much gushing from her body. When he made sure the bleeding was under control He pulled out a potion that looked purple in color. He put a few drops around the entrance of her wounds before rewrapping her torso. He moved down to her legs and realized he was going to have to remove her trousers completely due too blood seeping through them further up on her leg. Thankfully she was indeed wearing underwear so he didn't have to see anything he shouldn't, except of course her legs which still made him a little uncomfortable and like he was some sort of peeping tom if he were to be honest with himself. He saw that Kreature did indeed miss a wound as a chunk of wood was lodged into her skin. Harry carefully removed it from her before carefully cleaning the wound, and then reapplied the potion he used on her torso. After that he started on her calf which might have been the worst wound on her body. It was clear that one of those ice beast things had bitten her and it looked like it had torn a chunk of her leg off.

Harry was put in a difficult position. He could not heal this wound with his current skills and did not have a potion that could do it. He could, however cut the left leg under the kneecap and regrow it from there. That would not be comfortable. He could numb her but she would be very sore in the morning. Harry decided that the girl would probably rather have a leg she could use rather than the one the looked like it was half eaten. Harry gulped and hesitated for a second before steeling himself and launching a strong cutting charm at the girls leg. Her body jolted as the leg came off and Harry applied another numbing charm just to be safe. It was then he applied the skele-grow to the stump and pulled out a very small vial from his chest. Harry didn't know when, but at some point the Potter family was gifted a small vial of the Elixir of Life from the notorious Flamel's. This was that vial. While the skele-grow causing the bones to regrow, the vial would cause all the tissue and other parts to regrow as well. Harry moved to her mouth and opened it slightly allowing him to pour the potion in, which she immediately swallowed.

After that, Harry finished bandaging the rest of her up and getting her as healed as possible. He would need to find some ingredients to make a potion that would help with the soreness she would feel when she woke up, without having to go to Diagon Alley. There was an abandoned greenhouse in his backyard where potion ingredients were once grown, but they were out of commission now. He sighed as he finished bandaging her up before levitating her off the bed so he could vanish all the blood and throw some quick cleaning spells on the sheets and comforter. After he did that he put her back down gently. He gathered her clothes which he would clean for her and shrunk the potions chest to take with him. He walked over to the door and took one last look at the girl before he closed it completely.

 _Ciri POV:_

Ciri awoke to almost all of her body being extremely sore. Her eyes fluttered open and were immediately attacked by the bright light streaming through the room. She waited a moment for eyes to adjust before taking in her surroundings. The room she in was nice, very nice. It reminded her vaguely of when she was very young and lived in Cintra. The room was one the biggest bedrooms she had ever slept in. She struggled to move her body upwards so that it was leaning against the headrest of the massive bed. She looked out the window to see that she was both low to the ground, and was in some sort of clearing surrounded by beautiful wildlife. She then looked back at her room. By now she knew two things. One, she was not in some castle like she originally thought, based on the fact that castles were usually not low to the ground but on hills, and two; if she wasn't in a castle than she was most likely in some manor.

Satisfied with her findings, she looked closely at the things in her room to see if her weapon was nearby just in case her host weren't as benevolent as she believed. She sighed in relief seeing her blade leaning gently against the nightstand. She didn't reach for it though because honestly, she was in quite a bit of pain just from moving into this upright position. She looked around at the decorations of the room. It was much less gaudy than most rich manors tend to be. In the few manors she had been too, every room and hallway was decorated in bright colors and covered with expensive art to showcase their wealth. This room was a stark contrast with that, Their was only one painting in it, and it was just a landscape peace of a beautiful hill with a clear sky over it. The dressers, stands, and bed frame were much less ornate than most she had seen. Not to say that they weren't probably expensive, because they probably were, but it was much more...subtle than she was used to seeing. It was like the very house was saying, "I want to look nice but I am not showing off for your approval." Even the walls were more of a pleasant beige rather than the flamboyant reds she was use too. All in all, the room had a very soothing atmosphere about it.

It was that moment that her host graced her with his presence.

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry walked into his guest's room with a large tray. He had Kreacher monitoring the room so he would know when she awoke. He also made sure he came once a day just to make sure her wounds were healing up properly. He had been amazed by how quickly her foot had regrown. The bones were expected but he had no idea how quickly the Elixir of Life would work. Apparently very quickly. As soon as Kreacher had told him the girl had awoken, Harry ordered the elf to make a well rounded breakfast and to put a pitcher of orange juice and water on it so she could drink to her hearts content. He had also gathered her folded clothes that he had cleaned and fixed with him. He set the clothes he had been levitating behind him on the floor outside the room. If the girl knew nothing of magic or perhaps had bad connotations with it, it would be wise to not go in and use it in front of her. He balanced the large tray on one hand skillfully and knocked before gently opening the door.

He saw the girl sitting upright against the bed frame. Harry winced internally at how hard that must have been to do alone in her state. He put on what he hoped was a friendly smile.

"Good morning. Glad to see you're finally awake and even strong enough to lift yourself up. That must have been uncomfortable. I would have come sooner to help if I had known you were going to immediately get up." He told her. The girl gave him a cautious smile in return.

"It's fine. Thank you for your hospitality. Would you mind telling me how I got here?" The girl asked. Harry nodded.

"Of course but first, let me put this down so you can dig in. I'll talk while you eat. Deal?" Harry asked with a smile. The girl's stomach answered for her with a loud growl at the mention of food. The girl seemed to turn completely red in the face as Harry chuckled softly. He set the tray gently down next to her, as he was afraid putting it on her legs might be painful with all the soreness.

"Alright well I didn't know if you had a breakfast preference so I had an omelette made for you. Next to it is some toast as well as some pineapple fruit. The pitchers have both orange juice and water. You may have either of course. The little bottle container next to the food and drink is medicine to help with the pain." Harry said as he gestured to each item. The ashen haired girl downed the potion immediately before digging into the huge omelette Kreacher had made for her. Harry had extras downstairs if she was still hungry after eating it. The girl got halfway through the omelette before calming down and looking at him again with another blush, though this one was much less pronounced.

"You were saying how I came to be here…" she said prompting him to continue.

"Oh yes! Forgive me for being a little forgetful. As to how I found you; I was taking a stroll through the woods outside when I heard some noises like the smashing of metal on metal in the distance. I decided to investigate but by the time I fond you, you were bleeding out on the ground. I asked those beings with the skeleton armor what they thought they were doing and they told me to leave or die. At that moment, I realized they were probably up to something unpleasant so I warned them to step away from you and to leave immediately. The one with the staff tried to order them to kill me, but as soon as I heard him start with the order I attacked. The rest it a blur. It wasn't long before all were dead including their beasts. Sadly the one with the staff escaped before I could finish him off. Despite that, I burned the dead bodies to ash and had them scattered all over the forest to throw off the trail and mess with the scent. I then got rid of any scent leading here so they could not track us here. After I brought you here I started treating your various wounds. That was four days and three nights ago. I would check in on you once a day to make sure your wounds would heal properly then told my servant to report to me immediately when you awoke so I could make sure to get you fed and watered as soon as you were awake. Now here we are." Harry said to the girl. He purposefully left out any magic just in case. The girl looked very uncomfortable by the end of the story.

"Is something wrong? Your wounds aren't acting up are they?" Harry asked in concern. She shook her.

"No I'm fine thank you. For someone as young as you to be able to take on the Wild Hunt single handedly is unheard of. You must be a great warrior or perhaps a mage?" the girl asked in what almost sounded like a hopeful voice. Harry's eyebrows shot up. So the girl did now of magic. Or at least believed it did. Harry decided to take a leap of faith and tell her the truth.

"Well...I'm not sure if mage is the right word. My people call ourselves wizards and witches, but yes! I am proficient in magic if that's your question." Harry said sheepishly. The girl visibly relaxed at his confession and Harry was curious as to why that was.

"That's a relief. For a second I thought you may have been some manner of beast that had taken on human skin, like a high vampire or something similar." the girl explained. Harry's right eyebrow shot into his hairline and amused smile graced his face.

"A vampire really? I think you have been reading to many romance novels." Harry said to the girl in jest. She frowned.

"Do vampires not exist here?" she asked, Harry frowned at that statement and the way she said it. It was more than her just saying here as in his home or England. He got the impression she meant the world as a whole.

"They do indeed, though I have never heard of a high vampire. Unless you just mean their clan leaders like Count Dracula." Harry said back to her. She nodded.

"How soon do you think I will be fit to travel." The girl said. Harry frowned. Did he say something wrong?

"In a week at the earliest I imagine. Planning to leave so soon?" Harry asked. The girl seemed to realize she may have sounded a little to eager to leave.

"Apologies, I did not mean to say your hospitality has been anything but fantastic however, the Wild Hunt will still be looking for me, and me being here puts you in an enormous amount of danger." Harry nodded in understanding before smiling.

"You needn't worry if that's you concern then. I have wards around the home that prevent unwanted entry as well as the fidelus charm in place. It's the nearest thing to making it impossible to find my home." Harry said. The girl looked at him to explain.

"The fidelus charm is a charm that takes a secret and hides it in the depths of one's soul making it impossible for the secret to be found out unless the secret keeper tells you it. A very high level charm that has no known counter. Even things like scrying and divination are useless against it. These people that you call the Wild Hunt came have come all week to investigate where you have been and to get back on your tell. Sadly for them I destroyed your trail and any time they get near the wards, they get lost and have to immediately turn back believing they have gone the wrong way. Some were talking on the last day in a language I couldn't understand, but judging by the motions, I believe they think you have gone already. You are perfectly safe here. I promise. Plus, even if they could somehow teleport straight through the wards. The fidelus charm puts the whole house in a quasi pocket dimension, meaning they cannot look at or touch the house even if its right in front of them." Harry said as he finished the explanation. She looked very impressed.

"I have never heard of a spell that does something like that. You must be very powerful." she commented looking impressed. Harry blushed at that and stammered a bit.

"Well...I'm alright I suppose. Far from the weakest wizard I guess." He said modestly. Harry knew he had talent and that he could probably beat even most adults around him. It still didn't make him comfortable to talk about his talents though. The girl smiled and seemed to chuckle in amusement at him as she finished her meal and downed some juice.

"I feel much better thank you for the meal and the medicine. I can feel the pain dulling already." She said with a grateful smile. Harry smiled and nodded at her.

"You are most welcome. By the way. My name is Harry Potter. Lovely to meet you." Harry said. She smiled.

"Ciri. Nice to meet you too Harry Potter." she said. Harry smiled but then frowned.

"Oh I almost forgot." Harry said as he summoned her clothes.

"Here are your clothes. I noticed you wearing trousers and a blouse so I took the liberty of going and getting you some similar clothes from the store if you wish to wear something besides these. Do not feel pressured too if you don't feel comfortable doing so. I just wished to give you the option is all." Harry said as he gestured towards the dresser. He was glad that he could just go to a muggle mall instead of having to travel to a wizarding community. He knew how to get to the one in Paris because he had sent a letter to Fleur asking her how to get to it and to not tell anyone about him. It was a little uncomfortable to be honest as he had not spoken to her since the tournament. Luckily she seemed happy to hear from him and gave him a stern dressing down for taking so long to send her some sort of letter. Saying how distraught she was about how he seemed to not want to continue their friendship. She of course told him where the magical center was in France and that he should visit sometime. He shook his head to clear it from its tangent.

"I thank you for your continued kindness. Are you sure you don't mind me staying a little?" she asked.

"Of course I don't mind. I live in a big empty house with no one but my crabby house elf for company. Having company is probably good to make sure I don't go insane." He joked before gathering up the tray and departing. As he closed the door to her room, he wondered briefly what the coming weeks had in store for him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Harry's POV:_

Harry's life from the time he was born up until about six and a half months ago was the equivalent of shitty roller coaster that went from a little hill of happiness, to a steep drop down a ravine of horribleness. It had gotten better though at about nine and a half months ago when he cut off all connection to the British Wizarding World but it wasn't until about six and a half months ago when he met a girl a year older than him named Ciri. It was short for Cirilla as he found out later but she would punch his arm painfully when he called her it.

Ciri was...he didn't even know how to properly describe her. Every time he saw her it was like coming out of stuffy abandoned mine to the top of a mountain. She was more than just a breath of fresh air but was like taking a big swing of a rejuvenation potion. She was so similar to him in so many ways yet completely different in others. It only made sense that they had become fast friends. He had taken to doing everything with her, and she seemed to return the favor by hanging around him any time she could. After being cooped up in the house for two months, he had taken her to go see some of the muggle world. She had absolutely loved it. She loved seeing the skyscrapers and all the cars that drove around. She had asked him if he had a car, which he replied that he didn't. She seemed sad about that so that night he had gone to Gringotts inconspicuously and had them convert some galleons to 300,000 euros. He had then taken that money and went to a car dealership where he bought a 1988 Ferrari Testarossa for 80,000 euros. He had to use some charms to get past the dealer's questions like how a young kid such as himself was going to pay for such a car and where his driver's license was. Nonetheless he had bought the car with some liberal use of memory charms and spent an extra 10,000 euros to get it delivered to his house that morning. Getting the muggles though the wards was a hassle and he felt pretty bad for all the charms he applied so they would forget where he lived so he made sure to give them a nice tip for their troubles.

Ciri had woken up and almost screamed in excitement when she saw the car in front of the makeshift driveway Harry had made towards their house since it was ¾ of a mile from the nearest road. It was an entire process learning how to drive the thing since neither of them had ever drove before and this wasn't exactly the best first car to have but the eventually had gotten the hang of it.

"It's even better than racing on a horse." Ciri had said with excitement as the speedometer said she just passed 257 kmh(160 mph). Harry, on the other hand, was holding on for dear life with his eyes firmly had laughed at him for a week after that.

After that, the next adventure they had taken was to France where they explored the more magical side of things. France's government was much less racist than the British one, and the politicians who were racists made sure to keep it to themselves. This lead to Ciri seeing a multitude of different humans and other creatures. She also seemed to love magical versions of food and now had a sweet tooth that could only be satisfied with treacle tart which, according to her, was much tastier than the muggle counterpart. Harry had just rolled his eyes at that. It was in the middle of that argument when Fleur had spotted them and had come over.

" 'Arry! It iz so good to zee you again". Fleur said as she came up and hugged him which surprised the hell out of him. Ciri had just watched calmly the whole time though Harry could tell she was uncomfortable.

"Hello Fleur. It's good to see you too. How have you been? How's your sister doing?" Harry asked politely. It seemed her english had improved and she could pronounce most of the words with her heavy accent. The French girl beamed at him.

"I am well and so iz my sister though you should be careful. She recently hit puberty and you are target to sink her claws into. You know her crush on you only got worse after the tournament." Fleur said back to him. Harry shifted uncomfortably at the thought. He had no doubt that Gabriella would be as beautiful as her sister but he doubted he would ever see her as anything more than the little girl he had know her as.

"Ah. Maybe I should stay away from France for the time being then." Harry mused. "Anyways. Fleur this is Ciri. Ciri this is Fleur. Ciri is a friend of mine who I have been showing around. I wanted her to see some more magical land points that aren't in Britain." Harry said giving Fleur a slight look to let her know that he had not told Ciri about the British situation. Fleur seemed to understand,

"Hello Ciri. It iz so nice to meet another friend of Harry's." Fleur said as she shook Ciri's hand politely but with some energeticness to it.

"It is nice to meet you as well. I had the impression that Harry didn't have any other friends. Must be hiding in Britain with the rest of his secrets." Ciri said snarkily as she shot a glare at Harry letting him now that she knew he was hiding stuff from her.

"Oh my. Quite the new friend you have here Harry. I like her already! Maybe she can actually reign you in. It would be quite a feat but she looks up to the task." Fleur said as she looked Ciri with approval in her gaze, Both Harry and Ciri's face lit up red at the comment.

"Yes well we're more of just good friends really. Right Ciri?" He said looking at the ashen haired girl to back him up.

"Yes very much so thank you very much. Good friends is all." She responded earnestly. Fleur covered her mouth as she was very clearly laughing at them

"You two are so a like it's uncanny. Why don't you join me for lunch. It's been awhile and we need to catch up!" Fleur said as she pushed them to the nearest cafe despite their protest. The lunch was actually very nice and peaceful he occasionally saw some reporter out of the corner of his eye snapping pictures of them, but he ignored it. Fleur was very good at keeping Ciri involved with the conversation and seemed to enjoy telling the girl about some of Harry's 4th year exploits which Ciri seemed to think were terribly impressive for a 14 year old.

"I can't believe you had to go up against a dragon. At 14! That's ludicrous!" Ciri said. Fleur nodded in agreement as Harry tried to downplay it.

"I didn't do much. I just flew away from it to be honest." Harry grumbled.

"He says as if it were natural to outfly a dragon." Fleur commented with amusement. Ciri seemed to be quite amused to.

"Honestly Harry. It's okay to feel some pride in your accomplishments. You don't have to be so modest about EVERYTHING!" Ciri exclaimed. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"I here you got into quite a few adventures before your fourth year as well. Something about a basilisk when you were 12 I believe?" Fleur said innocently. Harry glared as the older girl added fuel to the fire that was Ciri.

"A Basilisk? What's with you and going up against draconids you suicidal imbecile." Ciri said as she punched his arm for his stupidity.

"Ouch! Hey, I didn't have a choice. The damn thing took my friend. Plus you're thinking about the Basilisks of legends that were flying reptiles with a rooster's head. The Basilisk here is a large snake that can grow up to 80 feet in length and 7-10 feet in height. Harry said Ciri's eyes bulged at that.

"And you attacked it?!" She almost yelled. Harry had long since had to put up a silencing ward around their table so they wouldn't get anymore weird looks than they were.

"Well, like I said, it had my friend." Harry said.

"If I remember my history correctly. Basilisk are infamous for having the strongest poison in the magical world next to the Nundu as well as a gaze that can kill you if you make eye contact with it." Fleur added innocently once more. Harry's glare could melt iron with how hot it was as he glared at Fleur.

"Fleur!" He yelled. Fleur just looked at him with innocence. Harry palmed his face. Ciri was just looking gobsmacked at him before horror crossed her face.

"That big scar on your arm. You said you got it from a snake bite." Ciri said in horror. Fleur's face also devolved into horror. Harry gulped at that.

"Yeah that would have been from the Basilisk, but before you say anything, a phoenix healed me with their tears so I'm all good now." Harry said to the horror filled woman. That was 5 minutes ago. They had yet to stop hitting and kicking him over and over while calling him an idiot.

"Ouch! Ladies come on I get the point. Won't do it again, I promise, please stop I feel blood!" Harry yelled. They probably would have continued if a phoenix had not flamed directly onto their table. All sounds of violence and complaints of said violence had stopped. Fawkes was looking directly at Harry and Harry was doing everything not to glare at the bird. He saw the letter the phoenix was carrying in it's mouth.

"Take it back. I don't want it." Harry told the bird as calmly as possible. Fawkes just kept looking at him.

"Even if you leave it with me I won't read it. I could care less what the man has to say. I will not return." Harry told Fawkes. Fawkes dropped the letter on the table in front of him, gave him one last meaningful look, and then disappeared in a ball of flame. Harry glared at the note in silence. He then took out the note and then lit it on fire with a low powered incendio.

"You're really not going to read it? What if it says something important?" Ciri asked.

"It doesn't, just the usual guilt trip in trying me come back." Harry said darkly. Fleur looked at him with an uncharacteristic seriousness in her eyes.

"Harry, I am and always will be your friend but you cannot run from this forever." Fleur said.

"I'm not running. I just am not participating in it. I don't see why I should help the sheep when they were so willing to throw me out to the wolves when I tried to warn them. Now that I'm suddenly proven right they jump back on my bandwagon. Screw them! I will not put my life on the line for people who aren't worth it." Harry replied angrily.

"Whether you want to stay out of it or not, HE won't stop until you're dead. You know that Harry. You know that one day you will have to face him. You doing everything in your power to avoid that is running away whether you like it or not." Fleur said seriously. Harry idly noticed she said that sentence in, almost, perfect English which only showed how serious she was.

"We can agree to disagree on this." Harry said.

They had parted not much longer after the words were said. Fleur had apologized for her words and expressed how she hoped it wouldn't affect their friendship. Harry had assured her it wouldn't affect it and gave her a hug goodbye to reinforce the fact. Fleur had smiled and returned just as he and Ciri did through Floo. Ciri had asked about that conversation almost everyday for the next month. She was stubborn about finding out. Harry found it both annoying and endearing at the same time. Eventually he finally sat her down and told her of his life and trials. She had understood and in return had told him about her life as well. How she too was the subject of a prophecy which was why the Wild Hunt was chasing her in the first place. They wanted her blood to stop their world from being destroyed. They wanted to kill her to do so though, which Harry disapproved heavily of. Still, it was another thing that brought Harry and Ciri close together.

Ciri had one day decided to start using her sword again lest she fall out of practice.

"Have you ever used a sword before?" she asked as she walked into the training room Harry had made her.

"Yes. I killed the Basilisk with a sword. That was the first and last time I used one." Harry told her. She got a look like she wanted to hit him again but decided against it.

"I could teach you if you're interested." she said. Harry looked at her.

"Are you trying to convince me to let you hit me with a metal pointy stick?" Harry asked. She had smiled and nodded. He sighed.

"Fine. I'll go get a sword then." Harry said as he went to Gringotts and pulled one from the Potter vault. It was a well made sword but not anything special, which suited his needs perfectly.

Ciri had told him he was a natural with a blade yet that didn't seem to ever stop him from walking out of the training room covered in bruises.

Yes it had been a wonderful 6 and a half months. The best of Harry's life if he were to be completely honest with himself. Yet he had a terrible feeling that it was coming to an end. He had noticed Ciri staring off into space a lot and looking sad. He suspected that she missed her home. Harry tried to make sure that she wanted for nothing, but he knew more than anything that nothing could ever replace somewhere that you willingly called home. If anyone deserved to go home it was Ciri. It was these thoughts he was having as he walked into the living room to see staring into the lit fireplace deep in thought. Harry moved to sit next to her. She briefly registered his presence before going back into her thoughts. They sat like that for a good 20 minutes.

"You're leaving soon." Harry said. He had meant to say it as a question but they both knew it was a statement of fact. She looked him in the eyes then looked down sadly and nodded.

"How long?" he asked her.

"A week, maybe two." she said to him. Harry nodded.

"Well...I suppose we should start making preparations." Harry mumbled as he moved to get up and leave so she would not see how distraught he truly was. As soon as he tried to move though Ciri jumped at him. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face into the crook of his neck. He could feel her tears on his neck. He slowly wrapped one arm around her waist around her torso and held her to him just as tightly. He laid his head gently on top of hers trying to make sure he memorized everything about her in the short time they would have. She smelled like the wild to him. A smell he never knew could be so intoxicating. They stayed that way for the rest of the night.

 _Two weeks later. February 1st_

Harry was helping Ciri pack the remaining clothes she would bring with her into a trunk. He had put a very simple rune on the trunk that would shrink and expand it if you channeled magic into it. Something that Ciri had in spades as he had found out.

"Do you have everything. Boots, blouses? Undergarments?" Harry asked as she finished packing and shrunk the trunk. She put it on a necklace around her neck for easy carrying.

"I'm sure I have everything, though if you want to go digging through my undergarments to make sure, feel free." She said sarcastically. Harry blushed at the idea but still smiled in amusement.

"No thanks, I like my balls intact thank you very much." Harry responded. Ciri walked in front of him.

"How do I look?" she asked as she did a twirl. She wore the same clothes she had first arrived in. a white blouse and light brown trousers, with her familiar sword attached to her back. Harry smiled at her.

"Perfect." he told her as he smiled hoping he was doing a good enough job to cover his sadness. She smiled at him reassuringly before taking his hand and walking slowly through the house for the last time. It was such a nice a peaceful experience that Harry almost forgot that this would be the first, and last time they ever did this. They reached the front door and Harry had to fight every cell in his body telling him not to open it, but he did because he knew that as much as it hurt to let her go. It would hurt infinitely times more if he forced her to stay. The door opened and beautiful sunlight came through. Harry felt a little upset that it was such a beautiful day on what he would probably consider one of the worst days of his life for a long time. They both stepped outside the house and simply stood there. Harry didn't know how long he just stood there holding her hand and trying to soak in her presence. All he knew was that it didn't last long enough. She released his hand and looked at him.

"I suppose I should be on my way." she said quietly. Harry didn't know what he said so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"I'll never forget you, you know. I will never forget the time I got to share with you." Harry said. She smiled at his words and it seemed that they made her happy.

"I hope you know it's the same for me as well. You gave me many months of bliss. Of not having to worry about people's expectations. Of not having to be hunted down like an animal. It was nice to be normal for awhile... I want to give you something." she said as she reached around her neck. Harry briefly thought she was taking off the trunk necklace to give back to him. He was about to protest until she pulled the chain off to reveal a silver, snarling, wolf head on the end. Harry's heart skipped a beat. He of course had seen the necklace before and knew the significance.

"Ciri, I can't-"

"Shush. Take it. Something to remember me by. Seems only fair with all you have given me.

"But you said that your father-"

"When I see him again he will understand." Ciri said. She was giving a hard look that told him she wouldn't be moved on this. Despite himself he couldn't help but smile at her stubbornness. God, he was going to miss her. Harry took the chain and wrapped it around his neck and attached it. He put the wolf head under his shirt and was surprised how warm it was despite being metal. He briefly remembered that it was constantly pressed against Ciri's own skin which had kept if from cooling. He marveled at the sensation before looking back at Ciri. She smiled at him.

"One more thing to remember me by…" she said with a sly grin. Harry looked at with a confusion.

"What do you me-MMPH!" He said as he was interrupted as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her hard and smashed her lips onto his. Harry didn't care who knew it, he felt in that one moment like he was melting to goo. He was finally cognizant enough to return the kiss with full force. It was a few moments before Ciri pulled away. She smiled at him.

"You better remember that or I'll come back and beat you black and blue." she said as she backed up a few seconds.

"Oh I will remember that for as long as I live. That I can guarantee." Harry said with a smile that wouldn't take itself off his face. Her grin got bigger.

"I'm glad to have met you Harry James Potter." She called to him.

"And I you, Cirilla Fiona Riannon," He called back to her.

"Remember Harry only we can change our fate. No one else can do it for us. Don't be a slave to yours." She said before disappearing in a bright blue flash. Harry was not sure how he stood out there looking at where she disappeared. All he knew was that it was dark out when he finally went back into his manor. A mirror near the entrance revealed dry tear streaks. He summoned Kreature to bring him a moist hand cloth to wipe his face. He then went to sit down at his dining table to eat a meal alone for the first time in months. He spent the entirety of it thinking of Ciri. He would need to master occlumency and soon. He never wanted to forget her face let alone all the memories they made together.

' _Remember Harry only we can change our fate. No one else can do it for us. Don't be a slave to yours.'_

Those were the last words she had ever said to him.

"Alright Ciri. For you, I'll confront my destiny. Even if it leads to my death.

 _Hogwarts, The next day_

 _General POV:_

It was a normal day for the Hogwarts crowd. This year was surprisingly quiet and easy going despite the dark lord running rampant. Of course that could also have to do with the fact that a certain Golden Boy wasn't there. No one in Britain had seen Harry Potter in months. He had shown up in France a few months ago eating lunch with two girls but had not been spotted since. Rumors were running rampant. Some said he was out hunting the dark followers of Lord Voldemort while others said he was running and hiding from the powerful dark lord. Some said he was dead. No matter what the rumors were, no matter if you liked or disliked him, no one had expected for Harry Potter to randomly walk into the Great Hall that morning for breakfast as if he hadn't been missing for almost a year. No one expected him to sit down and start eating some eggs and bacon while not paying a single ounce of attention to anyone around him. Yet that is exactly what happened that cold February morning. The hall was completely silent as all movements came to a halt. The Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, stood up and looked at the boy in what many thought was amazement.

"Harry Potter." He called out voice booming and all. Harry paused from eating and looked up at the old man with a bored expression.

"What?" he asked quietly yet his voice was heard throughout the Great Hall. Everyone was holding onto their breath.

"May I speak privately with you please?" Dumbledore asked clearly wanting to take this away from the hundreds of students who were watching intently. Harry shrugged nonchalantly.

"After I'm done eating." Harry said as he went back to eating his eggs.

"Why you insolent-" Snape had started before Dumbledore silenced him with a glare. Dumbledore looked back at Harry.

"As you wish, but no later than that please." Dumbledore said. Harry didn't grace him with a response. It was then that everyone burst into talking and starting up new rumors about Harry Potter once more. It was only a few more moments before a shriek was heard throughout the hall.

"HARRY!" someone yelled at the entrance hall. Harry turned to look and was immediately smashed into by one of his best friends.

"Where have you been!?" Hermione yelled at him while trying to squeeze the literal life out of him. Harry did his best to shrug

"On vacation." he said nonchalantly.

"Harry, Summer vacation ended ages ago!" she said. Harry nodded.

"Yeah I noticed when it got cold and then later started snowing a few months back." Harry said.

"So what were you doing then?" Hermione asked again.

"I was still on vacation." Harry told her. She didn't seem happy about that.

"You mean you willingly skipped school so you could do nothing and relax?" She said getting angry.

"Yeah that sounds about right." Harry said as he looked at Ron. Ron took that as his cue to greet him.

"Hey mate. Glad to see you in one piece and everything. Was getting worried there." Ron said as he patted Harry on the back. Harry nodded and gave his friend a smile.

"Yeah it's good to see you guys too." he said to them both. In truth he had missed them both but most of his time had been hanging out with Ciri.

"Ron did you not hear him? He ditched school to go on vacation!" Hermione said still flabbergasted. Ron looked at Harry smiled.

"Yeah I heard. Gotta say I'm jealous mate. All that time to just relax and not have Snape and McGonagall breathing down your neck. Must have been nice, but why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked. Hermione finally calmed down so she could hear the answer. Harry sighed.

"I just didn't feel like talking or having to explain myself. Let's just drop it alright. I'm here now and that's what matters. How are your guys classes going." Harry asked

"Well you know me, if it wasn't for Hermione I would've failed years ago I tell you."Ron said. Hermione blushed at the praise

"You would be fine if you actually tried to do your homework without being forced." Hermione said back. Ron smiled back.

"Ahh who has the time for that honestly." Ron said. Harry squinted at the two but said nothing. Harry wiped his mouth as he finished his meal and stood up.

"Well I have to go to talk to Dumbledore." Harry said as he prepared to leave.

"Alright but come meet up with us after you're done we have a lot to catch up on." Ron said and Hermione said her agreement with the statement. Harry nodded and left the hall.

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry pushed open the door to the headmaster's office without even bothering to knock. It looked all neat and tidy again. Not like the destroyed mess he had turned it into.

"Dumbledore. You wanted to speak to me." Harry said. Dumbledore just stared at him for a few minutes.

"Harry I want to confess my apologies to you." He said softly. Harry squinted his eyes in suspicion at the man. Was he trying to win him back under his wing.

"I want you to know that everything I have done was to try protect you and to make sure you came out of the other end of this conflict alive. I see now that I perhaps pushed you to hard and did not tell you things that I should have a long time ago. Although many think me infallible Harry I am not. There are more days where I fully feel my age than I have ever felt before. I want you to know I truly did what I thought was best to help you Harry. I don't know if I was right or wrong to do it but it doesn't matter because in the end I hurt you and your trust in me. I am sorry you felt the need to take an extended leave of absence to right yourself. I take full responsibility for the trials you have gone through my boy. I'm so sorry." Dumbledore said. Harry could clearly see the tears in eyes. He truly meant what he said.

"It's fine. I forgive you." Harry stated simply but truthfully. He could understand where Dumbledore was coming from. Sometimes all you could do was your best but it wasn't always enough.

"It warms my heart to hear that. Nevertheless I am sorry." Dumbledore said. Harry shook his head.

"I didn't leave because of you. To me, you were at most a symptom but not my main problem. I left because I was angry and frustrated. I was mad because after a year of trying to tear me down in every way they could, after watching my godfather die for them, I could no longer stand the British Wizarding populace. They treated me like garbage yet expected me to just forgive their stupidity and throw myself in the way of a dark lord that they were too scared to go against. In a way I think I despise them more than I do Voldemort. I also don't think that will ever change." Harry said. Dumbledore looked saddened to hear about Harry's opinion on the Wizarding World but could not fault him for it.

"If I may ask, why did you come back then? I could not find even a trace of you despite my best efforts and I know Voldemort couldn't either otherwise you would be dead." Dumbledore asked. Harry didn't say anything for second as he thought of Ciri. His beautiful Ciri.

"Someone I loved told me that only I had the power to change my fate. That I could run all I wanted but I just would be a slave to it. I am here to fight against my fate because no else can do it for me. That is all." Harry said. Dumbledore nodded at him.

"This person sounds very wise." he commented. Harry couldn't help but smile.

"She would like to think herself so I'm sure." Harry said as he once again thought of her. His face turned serious though.

"Enough of this sappy stuff. Where is the dark lord? I have a score to settle with him."


	3. Chapter 3

_Year 2021, Somewhere in the Himalayas_

 _Daphne's POV:_

Daphne Greengrass was currently walking in a large cave that was near one of the top peaks of the Himalaya mountains. Not necessarily because she wanted she wanted to either, in fact, if it were up to her she would never have to have set one toe in this cave in the first place. Most sane person would stay away from here, especially due to the fact that it also happened to be Winter. Even wizards, with as idiotic as they tended to be, knew to stay away from places like this if for no other reason than there wasn't a warming charm in the world powerful enough to stave off the cold she was feeling...Well technically speaking there was probably one person in the world who could make a warming charm that was powerful enough to stave off this cold and coincidentally, this was also the person she was here to find. Yes, Daphne Greengrass known to many as the Hidden Snake for her part in the war and the surprising side her and her family took, was now downgraded to the position of Harry Potter's unofficial P.A.

Daphne sighed to herself at her unfortunate lot in life. She had often wondered why she, a noble heiress turned war hero, had to be the one to deal with Harry Potter and it really all boiled down to the man himself. Harry had one day decided he wanted privacy and that any and all questions for him should go through her first. The prat hadn't even asked her permission before he decided what her new lot in life was going to be! She would have probably agreed if he had asked, after all she was his friend and was well known to have been his left hand during the war. Still, it was annoying to have to take time away from her husband and child to come up to one of the coldest places on the fricken planet just to wake Harry up from his 'hibernation' as he called it.

The cave she was in was not natural and had clearly seen ample use of expansion charms as the ceiling was almost 200 feet high if Daphne had to guess. There wasn't even any commodities in it that one normally needed to live. It was what Harry liked to call his, "Home away from home". Daphne just snorted at that. The prat just liked to be over dramatic and given his condition and...abilities it fit well. Daphne shook herself out of her thoughts as she approached a wall. She wished she could cast a lighting charm but that may cause Harry to wake up...violently. An unfortunate side effect of the war was weird lights near him while he was asleep caused his paranoia to act up. She pressed her hand against the wall and felt the unnatural smoothness as she expected. She walked back and felt around the floor for a sizeable rock. Eventually she found one and she reached down and picked it up. She weighed it and deemed it heavy enough. She reared back her arm and chucked the rock as hard as she could against the wall.

"Oi Potter, you git, wake up!" She yelled at the wall, briefly wondering if people would think she was crazy if they saw her doing this. She waited for a few minutes before the unnaturally smooth wall started to move. Not just move, but shift in a way no wall should be able to move. It became quite clear that the wall was not a wall at all but a huge creature's side that had gotten up and moved to look at her. Daphne soon found herself face to face with a giant black dragon with emerald eyes. Not just any dragon either, a Hungarian Horntail. It was bigger than any ever recorded before from what Daphne found out, though it was thought Dragons had gotten smaller in size over the years to better hide themselves. That being said, it was entirely possible and even thought that this one was the actual original size of the dragons of old. So, of course it only made sense that this was the animagus form of one Harry James Potter.

"Hurry up and change form so we can talk." Daphne said to the dragon. Dragon Harry just looked at her with a mixture of tired and annoyance. Before moving once more and shifting and shrinking back to his normal size. Daphne started to cast lights around the cave to give herself the ability to see now that he was awake.

"What do you want Daph. I was in the middle of something." Harry said with some annoyance as he walked over to her. Daphne glared at the 20 something looking man.

"You don't get to give me attitude after I made the hellish trip to come see you in this cave at the top of these God forsaken mountains." Daphne said with a little more snip in her voice than was most likely necessary. Harry sighed.

"Alright, fine. I'm sorry. It's good to see you even if you woke me up in the middle of my hibernation." Harry said as he waved his wand to conjure some comfy couch chairs for them to sit on. Daphne looked on with some annoyance at the ease in which he did the impressive magical feat but said nothing.

"So...Why have you decided to grace me with your presence?" Harry said as he eased into the comfortable chair.

"The ICW would like to meet with you as soon as your schedule allows."Daphne told him.

"Oh? What is it this time? Are they declaring me an up and coming dark lord or do they need my help crushing another poser?" Harry asked flippantly as he closed his eyes and rested his head on the headrest of his chair. Daphne deadpanned at the uncaring man but continued.

"Oh please. As if anyone has the balls to openly try and declare you a dark lord. Something about being the second coming of Merlin tends to keep people in line. No, they plan to give you a reward." Daphne said. Harry still didn't bother showing any thought to the conversation.

"Are they? And what have I done to deserve such an honor?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"The Dragon Pox vaccine?" Daphne said trying to jog his memory. Harry finally looked at her but he still did it with a bored expression on his face.

"Oh, that." Harry said

"Yes that." Daphne replied back at the man.

"When do they want me to go?" Harry asked.

"I got the feeling they wanted to hold the ceremony as soon as possible. They have been pressuring me for about two weeks now to come and find you to let you know." Daphne said with annoyance back in her voice.

"I'm surprised you didn't curse them and be done with it." Harry remarked with some amusement.

"Yes well we can't all get away with cursing anyone who gets on our nerves. Some of us must rely on tact." Daphne responded blandly.

"Psh lame people maybe." said Harry waving off that line of thought.

"Is that all you woke me up for because if it is then I'm going back to sleep." Harry said as he stood up.

"Well that's the important thing at least. Hermione wanted you to come to her and Ron's place sometime." Daphne said.

"Why's that?" Harry asked.

"Because you're their friend I would assume. I also hear that you haven't visited for quite a while." Daphne said

"That's preposterous, I visited them just…..hm. When was it again. A few months before I went to sleep I think." Harry said.

"Harry that's quite a bit of time. That means you haven't seen them since July. It's the end of December now." Daphne told him.

"Ah. Well I mean we both have busy schedules so it makes sense that we see each other less." Harry said.

"That's true when you're awake but you do know that you're not an actual dragon so you don't actually have to sleep all winter." Daphne told him. Harry shook his head.

"Nah, that's something I love too much to give up. Imagine the most restful sleep you ever had and double that feeling. That's what hibernation is like for me. Plus I work all year I think I more than deserve the rest." Harry said as he spread himself out on the chair in an effort to get more comfortable.

"Well at least try to actually wake up when Winter ends this time. No more mid Spring wake ups, got it? Daphne demanded. Harry grunted in response

"That was one time." He grumbled in annoyance.

"One time too many." Daphne said back. Harry didn't respond but his face soured.

"One other thing….I heard you have been poking around the Veil of Death. Can you tell me why?" Daphne asked. That caught Harry's attention and for the first time his eyes cleared completely as he looked at her. Daphne's job was officially an unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic. Unofficially she also helped quite a bit with Harry Potter and his magical projects. Most of her coworkers knew this so when they had seen Harry poking around multiple times near the Veil earlier in the year, they had immediately asked her what he was doing. Daphne hadn't known what to tell them as Harry hadn't mentioned it to her and had gone into hibernation before she could ask. Daphne herself was concerned about it. Harry never struck her as the suicidal type since the time she had gotten to know him after their Hogwarts years. One thing she would say about him is that he was very lonely. He hadn't been on a date with someone for more than 15 years after he had randomly ended his relationship with Gabrielle Delacour. When asked by the press, Gabrielle said she had no idea why her ex ended the relationship and said it had come out of the blue. Harry had never said why he ended the relationship, even with to those close to him. This had lead to Daphne feeling slightly worried for her friend who spent almost all his time alone doing research for one topic or another.

"Hmm. Coworkers told you I assume? Well I was just doing a bit of research is all." Harry said waving off the topic.

"What kind of research?" Daphne pressed.

"Just some thoughts I had recently" Harry said. Daphne tensed.

"What kind of thoughts?" she pressed even further. Harry looked at her suspiciously before his eyes seem to light up in recognition.

"Jesus Daphne, I'm not suicidal if that's what you are implying. I was just trying to figure out what the damn thing was is all. I mean come on! If I wanted to kill myself, I would just throw a killing curse at myself and be done with it. Throwing myself through the Veil seems a little over dramatic don't you think?" Harry asked as he settled back into his chair.

"Well you're the one being all evasive and weird with your answers. Answer like a goddamn normal person and I wouldn't have been concerned." Daphne shouted indignantly at him.

"Suicidal...honestly. What the hell makes you think I'm suicidal in any way?" Harry asked her.

"Well….you are always alone." Daphne said.

"I do that by choice." Harry said back.

"I don't think anyone sane ever chooses to constantly be alone Harry. Not exactly a natural inclination to have." Daphne shot back.

"Well it is what is okay." He said to her.

"...Does it have to do with Gabi?" Daphne asked.

"Uggghhhh. Not this again!" Harry yelled.

"Well, I mean it's weird Harry! One moment it seems everything's going great with you. You had a beautiful girl who was deeply in love with you and the next moment you break up with her with no explanation and haven't dated anyone since. It's weird!" Daphne explained.

"Okay look… it just wasn't working out. Nothing weird about it, Gabi was great and was everything any sane man would want in a woman but I just couldn't invest everything in that relationship. I honestly liked her alot but I couldn't bring myself to say I loved her. That's all there is too it." Harry finally said tightly. Daphne thought about that.

"Does this have to do with that Ciri girl that Fleur mentioned" Daphne asked tentatively. Harry immediately tensed at that.

"She told you about her?" Harry asked. Daphne just nodded. Harry sighed.

"I… guess yeah. Let me ask you something since we're getting all personal. What was your relationship with Blaise like. When did you know that he was the ONE if you know what I mean?" Harry asked. Daphne frowned in thought.

"Hmm. When I knew he was the one? That's a tough one. I think it was when he decided to cut ties with his family so he could stay with me. That was when I really knew that he was going to be the man I spent the rest of my life with. It also helped that we were pretty similar personality wise. I guess at a certain point, I just didn't want to think about my life without him. I guess it was then I knew that I loved him." Daphne finished. Harry sat with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Do you think you love this Ciri girl?" Daphne asked. Harry tilted his head.

"I don't know. I think that she was the closest thing too it at the very least. I can't tell you if she's the one, I can say that every time I was with a girl of even talk to one, I would compare them to her. How much effort I would put into a conversation compared to how effortless it was to talk and be with her...This almost sounds pathetic how stuck up I am on a girl I knew for 6 months literally 20 something years ago. Which is my fault entirely actually. Did you know I originally learned occlumency just to make sure I wouldn't forget her? How pathetic is that? So now I can't even have the luxury of forgetting her and trying to move on now. I thought about getting myself oblivated just so I could move on but then I thought to myself 'Maybe it's for the best, I mean even if I do meet someone new, There's no way they're going to live as long as me given my whole death issue.'"Harry said as he seemed to almost be talking to himself. Daphne kept quiet as she just listen to Harry rant on himself.

"So...what's the plan?" Daphne asked him.

"The plan? The plan is to keep myself busy enough to not register the misery of my situation until I'm eventually offed." Harry said as he stared right into Daphne's eyes and she could see how serious he was. That was actually his plan to spend the rest of his quasi-immortal life. It was a sad life and the worse part was that Daphne didn't know what to say to make it better. Harry was in an extremely unique position that there was probably no one on the planet who could relate to. Maybe the Flamels but even then, they had each other to spend eternity with and it WAS back to eternity for them as Harry had actually gifted them a new philosophers stone. Another thing that barely any people knew about and no one knew why he had created it and then gifted it to them. To make it worse, he had immediately destroyed the notes afterwards and obliviated the knowledge from his head. It was a ten year side project of his that he had immediately gotten rid of completely once it was finished. It was weird considering how many projects Harry had and most of them he released to the public after they were done. Things like potions and medicines for the most part.

"...I suppose we have gotten off topic." Daphne said awkwardly. Harry smiled at that.

"I suppose we have. You were asking me about the Veil of Death and why I was snooping around it." Harry commented. Daphne nodded and was happy to get away from the grim subject of her friends not so close death.

"Hmmm. I was trying to figure out why someone would make a doorway that just killed you. It didn't really make sense in my head when you can just kill yourself with much easier means. So I started checking out the runic arrays and puzzling together what they meant." Harry explained. Daphne frowned. No one had ever been able to figure out what the runes said as they weren't in any recorded language. It shared similarities with a few latin ones but nothing past that.

"How? They aren't in any recognized language." Daphne asked.

"Well I copied every rune I could find on it. Then I started comparing them to all known types of runes in the way they manipulate magic. After that I compared how they reacted while they were in arrays. Took a few weeks but I think I have a well enough understanding of what the creator was trying to do and I think I know why he was trying to do it." Harry said. Daphne rolled her eyes as she recognized that the prat was trying to bait her into asking more questions.

"Harry just tell me what you found out already." Daphne said with anger creeping into her voice.

"Alright, alright. So basically it looks like the creator was trying to create a portal to another world. I also believe that they originally came from that world which would explain why they were trying to go there as well as why we couldn't normally understand the runes they used. I think they died before they completed it too as it's missing some things. It doesn't specify the world and there's no anchor for the time at which they would arrive on the world. So basically the portal sends you to a random planet during a random time period that is parallel to our planet." Harry said. Daphne's eyes widened.

"So you could go to a planet that hasn't even developed a livable atmosphere?" Daphne asked.

"Hmm. Possibly but most likely no. While it's not anchored to a specific planet or time, it is anchored to ours meaning that wherever you go is still sort of relative to ours. The world you would end up on would probably be similar to ours and the time range could only be about 1000 or 2 years either in the past or future from this position. Of course that means nothing as you don't know the level or rate of advancement of the creatures on that world. You could arrive at the same time on exactly the same type of world and still be in a whole different situation. Fascinating isn't it?" Harry asked after he finished his explanation. Daphne nodded at that. It was one of the most peculiar/useless things she had ever heard of.

"Well then I guess we should have it decommissioned and destroyed." Daphne said as she thought about the annoyance of later explaining this to her colleagues.

"Eventually, sure go ahead." Harry said. As he stood up and stretched. Daphne frowned at him.

"Eventually? Why not now?" Daphne asked. Harry looked at her sheepishly.

"Err. Well I was thinking of popping through it next summer and seeing what I get." Harry said as he shrunk in on himself since Daphne's glare got worse the more words that were coming out of his mouth.

"You _whAT?"_ she hissed at him.

"Well you know, figure my work here is done and it's time for me to get onto some other great adventure. That's probably the best place to start. I know how to make the portal so I figure I'll just go to a new place until I get bored of it and then make a portal and go to another new world. Then it's just rinse and repeat. At least until I'm killed" Harry explained. What happened after that was kind of a blur for Daphne. She remembered she started throwing curses at him and hadn't stopped for a while now. Harry was currently hiding behind a stone wall he kept repairing over and over to protect him from her onslaught.

"I really think you're over reacting about this." Harry said to her from behind his wall. Daphne threw a bombardo straight at the center where she hoped his head would be and watched as the wall exploded and she heard a squawk of surprise from the other side.

"DAPHNE!" she heard from behind the now collapsing wall.

"WHAT?" she screamed back in anger.

"Please stop!" Harry yelled.

"Then you stop being an absolute, blithering, idiot!" She yelled back and sent a stinging curse at him for good measure. She heard a pop sound behind her and saw Harry there looking too good for someone who had just had a wall explode on top of them. She raised her wand to him again but quicker than she could blink, he was holding it in his hands.

"Look Daphne, I know you don't like this but...I can only go around performing miracles for so long before I just devolve into some emotionless husk. This isn't something I really want to do but something I should do before it's too late and I'm not ME anymore. I know this sucks but I'd rather have everyone remember me as I am now then when I eventually go crazy because I have nothing left. It's the best of a bad option. Who knows, maybe one day I'll come back and see what's been done about this place." Harry said as he smiled at her. Daphne felt tears pooling in her eyes. She hated when the prat was right! As much as she pretended he wasn't, Harry was one of her closest friends and she would be very sad to see him go. She had learnt to really appreciate him during the war when she got to know him and all the shit he constantly went though because of the media and their government. The way he had simply powered through all of it and successfully lead a ragtag army of kids against one of the darkest lords of all time. The way he had mastered the way to appear so otherworldly and inspiring while also seeming like a common man who struggled with normal problems like everyone else. He was a rock. That was all she could compare him to. Not just for her but for many. It would be hard for many to accept his leaving. Harry gave her a sad smile.

"Come here. Let me have a hug." He said as he held his arms out for her. She slowly walked over and buried her face into his chest. She let slip a few of the tears she had been trying to hold back.

"Hermione is going to kill you." she said through her tears. Harry laughed at that.

 _Year 2022, Summer_

 _Harry's POV:_

'Is it wrong to wish that people who came to see you off for probably the last time didn't actually show up.' Harry wondered as he looked around the completely full room. He bet that this many people had never even been in this room before today, much less at the same time. It looked like everyone and their mother that was part of the magical community had shown up to see him off. Even people from different countries had shown up. There were even video cameras live streaming him all over the world. He was told that thousands were watching. All of them to see him off. Harry sighed in annoyance. He knew that this was Daphne's way of getting revenge on springing his leaving on her the way he did, which in retrospect was probably terrible. He saw Daphne with her husband Blaise and her 9 year old Evelyn who always referred to him as 'Uncle Harry'. He then looked over at Ron and Hermione who were standing with their little girl Rose and boy Hugo who also referred to him in the same way as little Evelyn. He walked down to them.

"Well this is it." Harry said. As he got to Ron and Hermione. They had already said their goodbyes earlier since they found out other people would be coming to see him off. That didn't stop Hermione from giving him one last tight tearful hug and Ron giving him a side hug.

"You know you don't have to go mate. I mean you could always just stay even if it's just for a little while longer." Ron told him as he himself was letting out a few tears. Harry smiled and did his best not to join his friend and cry.

"I can't do that Ron. You know that. Know that I will always remember you as the brother I never had. I mean that. I left a few gifts for you in your vault. I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want you to argue but I can't use them anymore so I figure you should have them." Harry said. Ron cuffed the side of his head.

"Prat. You shouldn't have done that. You have already given everyone more than they have any right to ask." Ron said with a smile.

"Got that right." Harry mumbled as he looked at the growing crowd. He had never gotten over his anger and hatred he felt for the masses but tried his best to at least stomach them and put on a friendly face.

"I don't want you to go. Hermione whined as she cried into his shoulder. Harry patted her back.

"C'mon 'Mione. It's for the best, you of all people should be able to see that." Harry told her quietly.

"I...I know. It's selfish of me. I'm sorry. I'm probably just making this decision harder for you. I just… I just want you to know how much I'll miss you. You've been one of my best friend for so many years now. I'll always treasure those years." she said. Harry smiled.

"It's the same for me. Just like Ron, you were a sister to me in every way that I wanted. I wish you and your children the best." Harry said as he gave them one last hug and moved to Daphne's family. There was much less tears being shed here which Harry was glad for.

"So this is it." Daphne said with a sense of finality.

"That it is. I guess you can't really call yourself my left hand guy anymore. I want you to know how much I'll miss you and all the help you have given me over the years." he said as he gave her one last hug. He pulled away and turned to Blaise Greengrass. The man who had given up his family for one of his best friends. More than anything else, that had gotten Blaise his eternal respect.

"Blaise, I know I don't need to say it but I will anyways, take care of her till your very last breath." Harry told the man. Blaise smiled back at him and shook his hand.

"With pleasure Potter. With pleasure." he said as they released each other. Harry gave a final wave to them to before heading up the podium that had been prepared. He looked out over the crowd that was staring intently waiting for him to reaffirm them one last time before he left. Harry thought about what he was going to say and smiled.

"I've never been one for many words as I have always preferred actions to them, so I won't say too much. I will tell you something that an old, wise, long bearded man once said to me. 'Do not mourn for me because this is not really the end but rather me going onto my next great adventure. Many have looked at me, for quite a long time now, to define greatness and I look back at them hoping they at least realized in the end that it was not I that was great but rather the times we all created that were great.' I hope that I at least was able to have created some great times with all of you before I departed. I hope that many will remember me not for the faults that I had, which I assure you I did have, but rather the accomplishments I made. With that, I leave you all for my next great adventure." Harry finished as he turned and approached the Veil to loud cheering from behind him. Seems his speech wasn't too bad for being thought of on the spot. He hoped it sounded heroic enough for a history book or two. He turned and gave one last wave to everyone before hopping directly into the darkness never noticing how the silver medallion he always wore around his neck hummed, and glowed as he did so.

Harry awoke to a face full of grass and a mouth full of bland tasting dirt. He groggily lifted his face upwards and spat the dirt out before reaching for his wand and cleaning his mouth. He checked his body to make sure that his shrunken trunk was still attached to his necklace. If it came down to it, he would need to use it for sleeping and other commodities. Hopefully he would be able to find a nice cave soon where he could stay for a home and lab. He finally stood up and wiped off his clothes as he observed his surroundings. He looked to be in some sort of forest that reminded him a little of the Forbidden Forest except with a lot less magical energy running about. He debated if he should just fly out of here or try to leg it, when an arrow flew by his head and slammed into the tree trunk next to him and embedded into it quite deeply. Harry stared at the arrow while he subtly cast a shielding charm to make sure another one wouldn't hit him. He then stared at the direction where the arrow came with a raised eyebrow.

"If you could not do that ever again, I would appreciate it. A lot." Harry said with mild annoyance as he finally spotted a figure hidden quite well in a tree that had another arrow notched and was pointing it him." The figure spoke in a language he did not recognize. He sighed. He guessed it was to much to expect them to know english in this new world.

"Well it seems that you don't know my language meaning communicating with you is going to suck." Harry said out loud mostly to himself since apparently this person couldn't understand his language. He watched the figure skillfully hop down from the tree and approach him. As the moonlight hit the figure, he could clearly see the figure of a woman. A brunette woman with a lithe physical structure who also happened to be green and wearing virtually no clothes. He had to stop himself from immediately exclaiming and running up to her for an examination. It wasn't easy to squash the researcher tendencies he had developed but he managed to so in this instance as he had a feeling it would get him in trouble. The woman said something else which he just shook his head confused to show that he didn't understand.

"Who are you dh'oine?" she spat the last part like it was a curse so Harry got the impression that it wasn't exactly a nice name.

"Oh you speak English. Or do you call it something else here? Bah doesn't matter. Name's Harry pleasure to meet you." Harry said with the most friendly smile he could muster as he held out his for her to shake. The elf just stared at the hand and then back at him with blank look. Harry withdrew his hand.

"Er right. Anyways, I'm a bit lost, so if you could just point me to the nearest exit of this wonderful forest that would be great. If you also, for whatever reason, had a map on you of the surrounding lands, I would greatly appreciate a look at it." Harry said in the same friendly tone. The elf looking creature went back to glaring at him.

"You need to come with me now." She said. Harry tilted his head and shrugged. I mean she was probably taking him to her leader and if the worst thing that these elf looking people had was some medieval weapons then he shouldn't have to worry about any real problems. I mean he was a dragon for godsakes!

"Okay sure. Lead the way and I'll follow I guess. Oh I never got your name." Harry said inquiringly the girl raised her bow and arrow menacingly.

"Walk." was all she said.

"Okkaaayyy then." Harry said as he walked in the general direction that she gestured towards. She led him like through the forest for what he guessed was an hour or two before finally coming to a structure in the middle of the woods. Harry could immediately feel the subtle enchantments on it that if he wasn't studying the structure so intently, he might have missed. It felt like a mild compulsion that forced people to stay away from this place. It wasn't really directed at certain things though so not quite as good as the ones he could produce. It did however tell him there were magic users similar to him on this new world. He would need to be careful of them.

They entered the structure were he found a small looking community that immediately sent warning bells in his head. For one there was quite a bit woman and female children but absolutely no males whatsoever. This meant either woman of this village and perhaps the entire world did not need to reproduce with men or they simply got rid of them after the reproduction process. He immediately dismissed the first idea as the woman who had brought him here hadn't been surprised by him implying she had seen men before. That didn't exactly fill him with hope though.

"Keep walking." The woman said behind him angry that he had stopped. Harry nodded.

"Right. Sorry about that. Just surprised by your little village here. You don't seem to have any men around. You don't happen to be man killers here right?" Harry asked as a joke but was semi serious in his inquiries.

"We kill trespassers unless mother says differently. She will decide your fate." The woman said blankly.

"Right, doesn't inspire me with much confidence but I wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing I suppose. Where am I going?" Harry asked. The woman seemed confused by his little pep talk before pointing towards the largest hut in the village. Harry nodded and walk towards it while also noting that his arrival had gained a lot of attention. It seemed the whole green female village had stopped what they were doing and paid attention to him as soon as he arrived. Harry was used to people staring so he brushed off the stares and moved to the hut. There was no door so he looked back at his escort.

"Do I just walk right in or should I wait out here until she tells me to enter?" Harry asked her.

"Go in. She already knows you're here." The woman said. Harry looked back and took a deep breathe before entering the hut.

The darkness caused him a temporary blindness before his eyes adjusted and saw a relatively spartan looking room with only one other inhabitant. A woman was looking at him from across the room. She honestly looked like he expected the leader of a group of all woman to look like. Tall with same green skin as the rest of her companions yet silver eyes and hair that clearly set her apart from the rest of them. Of course, she was beautiful as well yet Harry would have been more surprised if she wasn't. He hadn't seen a woman here that could be considered ugly on his walk in. He stared at her eyes and saw her looking at him curiously with an almost serene look. He felt a sense of peacefulness wash over him. He stopped himself from twitching at the subtle compulsion before dispelling it. The woman either didn't notice or didn't comment on him dispelling it.

"I am Eithné. Leader of the dryads in this forest. Who are you dh'oine?" she asked calmly. Harry tilted his head. With his suspicions confirmed, he decided to try the respectful route.

"My name is Harry my lady. I thank you for taking the time to see me as I'm sure you're usually busy with village matters. I was trying to explain to the person who escorted me here that I am a little lost and was hoping someone could point me to the nearest point of civilization so I may buy some supplies and get out of your hair." Harry said as he gave the regal looking woman a slight blow. He made sure to stay tense while he did so though. Despite her regal appearance, she also gave off the sense of a warrior and it would be terrible if he offended her and she started to try and use him as target practice. He could deal with it but he'd rather not. Plus there was something nagging him about her. Actually about this whole little village nestled in the forest. It sounded familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"I see. Do you know where you are?" she asked softly. Harry shook his head at that.

"I'm afraid not. I woke up only an hour or two earlier in the middle of this forest on the floor with no idea how I got there." Harry said. It was technically a lie but he was a pretty good liar so he wasn't concerned about being caught.

"You are in the forest of Brokilon where I am the ruler." she said in what appeared in an attempt to probably jog his memory. Unfortunately it did. Harry's mind went blank at the name for it was one he knew well enough. How many times had he gone over the memories of his time of with her? How many times had he reviewed everything she had told him of her past? One particular part of her past in this case, where she lived in a forest called Brokilon and was raised by Dryads. He squashed his hope and forced himself to not get excited about this new bit of information. Yet.

"By chance...is this a forest just North of the kingdom of Cintra?" Harry asked with as much monotone as possible.

"It is." the woman confirmed.

"And would you happen to be a dryad?" Harry asked with his excitement hitting new levels barely being contained inside him that he barely remembered that she had already told him that.

"I am." she said calmly but he felt he detected what might have been a hint of amusement in her answer.

"One last question if you would humor me my lady?" Harry asked trying so hard to contain himself.

"Go on." she said giving him permission.

"Thank you my lady. Would you perchance know the current year?" Harry asked. The woman seemed to frown in thought.

"Time is something that is much harder to judge here in Brokilon as we have no need to measure it. I believe your people say it's the year 1157." The woman said. Harry's face went blank at that.

'1157...That means she won't be born for another hundred years nearly, which means I didn't go too far forward and haven't missed her. I'll….I'll be able to see her again!' Harry thought. He could no longer contain it. He shot into the air and roared with triumph.

" _YES!"_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter out a little early because the last one was late**

 _Year 1183_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry was watching one of the most disgusting scenes he had ever seen unfold before his eyes. He was in a small town called Belhaven which was apparently a town that was chock full of racist assholes. There was a crowd cheering at a platform where a man was tying a noose around the neck of a crying elf woman. From what Harry had seen and heard, the elf woman had killed a guard that had been trying to take advantage of her only for the man's buddies to hop in and beat her into a different skin tone and throw her in prison. Now it looked like they were going to kill her. Harry was a man that understood what sacrifice was. He had seen and done it so many times over the years that he had lost count. He still fell asleep and saw Neville's face as he took on wave after wave of Death Eaters after they had found one of their hideouts giving his fellow comrades time to escape. He died that night but in that one night, got enough kills to retain a spot in the top 10 heaviest hitters in the war despite it continuing for another two years. The point Harry was trying to make was that sometimes sacrificing yourself for a cause you believed in was all you could do. Sometimes you needed to stand up against the crowd for what you knew was right and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Harry started walking towards the podium as the executioner let the audience have their fun with the beaten girl by calling her names and throwing random items at her before they finished her off. Not that that was going to happen as Harry had just made it to the stairs of the podium and started climbing it. At this point the executioner and the guards had noticed him. So did the audience.

"Oi! Civilian, you need to stay off the podium. What'chu think your doin'?" The guard said. Harry looked at the man with a blank face.

"I think I'm going to walk over to that girl, take that noose off her neck and escort her out of town." Harry replied calmly. Both the crowd and the guards seemed to find his words extremely funny as they burst into loud laughter. Harry patiently waited for them to finish as he discreetly brought his wand out.

"Yeah I don't know if you've been hittin the drink to hard mate but you should really step down before I have to knock you on your arse." The main guard said as he got in his face. This brought a new round of laughter to his buddies as well as the crowd. Harry allowed a smooth smile to cross over his features. He leaned into the guard slowly before speaking. The crowd shut their mouths real quickly to hear his response.

"If you don't get the fuck out of my way right now, I'm going to show these 'nice' people here what it looks like to turn a human being inside out." Harry said in little more than a whisper. Despite that his words almost echoed through the courtyard. The guard recoiled back at the mere thought of what he said before anger crossed his face.

"Alright, I have had enough of this. Let's show this elf lover what we think of his kind boy's!" The guard yelled behind him towards his fellow guardsmen as he drew his weapon. It was unfortunate that he did not see the scarlet curse rushing towards him in time other wise he may have been able to stop Harry from making good on his promise by dodging out of its path. Alas, it would seem he was too distracted which was why right now he was just a giant red puddle of blood and human organs on the floor. It didn't take long for the screaming to start after that. Even the guards seemed to be too disgusted to act after what just happened to their commander. This was also unfortunate as Harry wasn't feeling in a too merciful mood and decided it would just be easier to dispose of all of them rather than let them live and get reinforcements who he would also have to kill. The first two were split in half almost completely with the cutting charm Harry had quickly cast at them within a second. The third and fourth weren't so lucky as Harry had decided he wanted them to burn alive.

" _flammis acribus_ " Harry whispered the spell twice and caught them both in the chest. It was one of his signature one's during the war and he had mastered it to the point where it could almost keep up with most Fiendfyre's when he cast it with full power. Harry took a moment to watch people screaming and running away as fast as possible. Even the Executioner had booked it with the rest of the people. Harry ignored them and turned towards the elf who was looking at him with horror. Many years ago, it might have bothered him that someone he just rescued looked at him like that, now it didn't bother him a bit. No matter their intentions, watching a man butcher someone was never easy. He walked up to her.

" _Cáelm_." he said to her in hopes that she wouldn't struggle as he released the noose from her neck. His Elder speech wasn't the best but he knew enough to get by. It seemed she understood the sentiment as she calmed at his word but still looked scared. He finished getting the noose from around her neck and gestured for her to follow him. Luckily they weren't too far from an exit towards the town.

"Name?" Harry asked. The woman looked at him in surprise.

"Cyithrel." she responded quietly. Harry nodded. They soon made it to the exit unbothered. Harry looked at the girl.

"Stay here." he said to her. She nodded in understanding. Harry went back into the town and stole a few goods like bread, water, and a horse. He walked back to the elf. He handed her all the supplies as well as the reins to her new horse.

"Here. Take all this and get out of here. Don't come back here for at least 50 years. Human memory is nowhere near as long as an elf's." Harry told her as he helped her on the stallion.

"If I have it my way then I shall never return. I thank you for helping me even knowing it has now put a huge target on yourself. May I have the name of my savior." she asked in common with an elvish accent. Harry waved away her concern.

"It's nothing. I'm used to people trying to hunt me down. Even if they're successful, they will find that I do not come quietly. My name is Harry. Happy to help." He said as he slapped the horse's rear causing it to spur forward before the elf had time to reply. The last thing he saw was her surprised face as the horse ran off with her into the distance. He watched after her before the horse was out of view. With her gone, Harry looked back at the town and started weighing the pros and cons of burning it to the ground in his head. He grumbled as he found more cons then pros. With that he disappeared with a pop in the night.

 _Year 1199_

 _Eithné POV:_

"Eithné! Did you miss me!" Harry said as he popped into the hidden little forest village deep in the depths of Brokilon.  
"Harry. I thought I warned you to never return." The silver haired druid said seriously as she looked at her unexpected guest who seemed unconcerned about the 30+ arrows currently pointed at him.

"Oh you were serious about that?" Harry asked a with a faux confusion. Eithné just held back her glare for the, supposedly, human male.

"Yes I was." she said as she made a gesture for her people to put down their weapons. They would make no difference as Harry had proven on his second uninvited visit to her quiet home. This would mark the fifth one since they had found him all those moons ago. Eithné had no idea why the male felt the need to stop in every few summers but at this point it was almost becoming expected. Not an expectation she ever really wanted to have. He would just pop in and force her to drink some tea with him for a few hours and 'catch up' as he put it. Just as she thought, he summoned a pot of tea and some cups out of thin air.

"Shall we?" he asked with his insufferable smile with his insufferable smile as he walked into her abode. She followed him in, only because she knew it would be the quickest way to get him to leave. Hopefully he wasn't in a foul mood like last time. Something to do with an elven woman he had to save if she remembered correctly. She sat cross legged on the floor with him as he poured her tea. The tea was actually very tasty and calming. It was the only good thing about his visits.

"Why have you decided to once again disturb the peace of my forest?" she asked trying to get to the point.

"Oh I haven't seen you for awhile and thought I would pop in. How's everything? Kill any interesting trespassers lately?" Harry asked as he served her a cup. She took it and took a nice sip of the pleasant beverage.

"Interesting? No. Troublesome? Yes." she responded. Harry nodded in response.

"What, did you kill a noble or something like that?" Harry asked as he took a sip from his cup.

"I do not know. I do know that Verden keeps trying to send men to find and kill my people recently." she responded. Harry looked at her.

"That doesn't sound good. Want me to pop over after this and give them the business?" Harry asked her. Eithné just paused for a second as she tried to puzzle out what he was asking her.

"I do not require your assistance if that is what you are asking." she finally responded in a slightly offended tone.

"Ah yes. You don't like outside help. Forgive me, I still sometimes forget how you can be. I meant no offense." Harry said as he bowed his head in apology. Eithné just frowned at the motion. She had no idea how he could one moment have the audacity to treat her like she was an old friend and the next have impeccable manners and courtesies. Just another confusing thing about the powerful mage that she may never figure out.

"If you truly seek my forgiveness, you would have the decency to leave and never return." she commented. He dropped his manners and went back to his normal form as his smile reappeared.

"Ahh Eithné, you're breaking my heart. I take time out of my day to come and talk with you over some delicious tea and this how you treat me? I'm hurt. Truly I am." Harry said in a teasing tone. This time, Eithné did glare at him.

"If I could, I would have filled you with arrows and cut off your head as a message to other trespassers years ago. It is only due to the fact that I physically cannot pull off such a feat that I have not done it." Eithné said to him.

"That's true. You never really were a hospitable host unless you saw some use in your guest. How devious of you." Harry commented lightly.

"Then why do you continue to return if you know how much your presence bothers me." Eithné asked with anger creeping into her usually serene voice.

"Tsk tsk tsk Lady Eithné. All in good time. Almost all things I have done since I have met you have been for one singular reason." Harry said.

"And what reason is that?" she asked almost rhetorically.

"One day, you will know. One day I will give you a choice. A choice between two options, neither of which you will like. After that day comes, if you truly never wish to see me again then I shall grant you said wish as a reward for your choosing." Harry said with a smile. Eithné frowned at his words. What he just said sounded both ominous and like it would cause her trouble.

"I see." was all she said in response.

" us move back to happier topics. How's your daughter? What was her name, Marley?"

"Morenn." Eithné corrected immediately with a frost in her voice. It had recently come to her attention that her daughter had something of an affection for this man. Such a thing bothered her greatly and the last thing she wanted was for him to take a mutual interest.

"Morenn, right. How's she doing?" Harry asked.

"She is fine." Eithné said trying clearly to close the topic. Harry looked up at her and seemed to take the hint.

"Alright then. Well it seems we're about out of tea so I guess I can leave a little earlier today than usual." Harry said as he stood up. Eithné sighed in relief at the man seemingly leaving. She didn't know what she had done for the gods to have cursed her with his presence.

"Good. Please do not return." She told him. She knew he would not listen but she only had hope left at this point. Harry just smiled at her.

"See you in a few years My Lady." He told her before popping off. Eithné just frowned in annoyance before going back to planning on how to deal with new attacks from Verden.

 _Year 1216_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry watched these supposed "witchers" dance around his large form in some effort to distract him while one or the other took him out. Harry on the other hand just continued to sit down and watch them with an uninterested eye. These witchers were most obviously not from the school of the wolf but the school of the cat if his eyes were to be believed. They were also very stupid if the fact that they took a contract out on him and woke him up in the middle of hibernation said anything about them. Harry had already decided to cook them alive and then deposit their remains somewhere public just to make sure no one else tried this.

"Vicar. Go around him. I'll keep him distracted from the front." One of them yelled at his partner.

"Alright just don't get cooked. He seems pretty docile now but that could change at any moment." The one now identified as Vicar responded back. Harry pretended to pay attention to the man who was jumping around in front of him and waving his sword around like an idiot while the other crept up behind him. He didn't even need to look behind him to swing his huge tail quickly and smash it into the witcher. Even with their enhanced senses, his tail was simply too big to dodge. The man behind him was quickly killed as he was smashed up against the wall with the full force of Harry's tail.

"Vicar!" The remaining man yelled as he looked at his now dead companion before looking back at Harry with a glare.

"You'll pay for that beast!" the man yelled as he charged him. Harry swiped at him and to the man's credit, he actually managed to dodge it. The man quickly cast a quen sign on himself in the hopes it would give at least some protection against the dragon. Harry admitted that it was probably the smartest move he could make. Most of the witcher's limited magic wouldn't be enough to actually affect him. Even the quen probably wouldn't do much but it was better than nothing.

"Alright then c'mon you overgrown lizard." the witcher yelled at him as he readied his silver sword. Harry had learned that silver swords could do little more than scratch him recently after coming to this world. He had also found other dragons to be much weaker than he was though they had the ability to absorb most magic, which wasn't something Harry couldn't do in his dragon form. Harry finally stood up to his full massive height and stared down at the puny Witcher. He swiped his claws once more only for the man to skillfully dodge out of the way. Harry, however, expected this and bellowed white, hot, flames after the man. He heard a brief scream before the flames killed the man.

Harry grunted in annoyance once the man was dead. Every few years, a village would put a contract on him. It was mainly dragon professionals that came after him but occasionally he would get an over zealous witcher that got in over their head and decided to try and kill him. Or in this case, two of them. Harry shifted his body back into a human form as he stood over the charred remains of the witcher. He scrunched his face at the burnt smell coming from the body. Quickly he pulled his wand out and vanished the remains of the witcher. With that done he walked over to the other one and checked it over. The body was actually relatively intact considering how hard he had smashed it against the wall. He curiously wondered if witcher's had a stronger bone structure than the average human. That brought him to thinking about the other races he had encountered and their physical structures. Obviously vampires had much stronger muscles and a much denser bone structure. This meant that their metabolism was much higher than most creatures, which is why they had to drink blood as it carried much more energy than most foods did even when eaten raw. Harry knew that witchers had mutations due to Ciri mentioning it when talking about her surrogate father Geralt but he didn't truly know the extent of it.

Harry kicked the body with his foot once just to make sure the witcher was fully dead. He then picked it up and dragged it to his hidden little laboratory. He cleared the table with all his little notes on plans he had once Ciri finally decided to grace the world with her presence and pop out of her mom for the first time. He then carefully slumped the witcher body on the table and got started. First he healed all the physical wounds on the witchers body. Before leaving Britain, Harry had been widely considered a genius because of his multiple masteries in the subjects of potions, defense against the dark arts, runes, herbology, and healing. Most had been simply because he was either bored or because they helped with his research. Healing was surprisingly the only one that he had actually pursued simply from wanting to know more on the subject. Unsurprisingly, he had done it because he had remembered how lucky he had been when Ciri was injured that he was able to cobble up a solution that just happened to work. He wanted to make sure that he was able to help any time one of his friends needed it in the future. It's why he made the Dragon Pox Vaccine. Little Rose, his niece in all but name, had contracted it. He had worked for almost an entire year straight to solve that little issue and had made it just in time when the poor girl had been on her deathbed.

Harry shook his head to clear his reminiscing as he focused in on the now healed body of the witcher he killed. Now obviously he couldn't bring the man back to life, nor did he want to honestly but he could imitate life in the body on a physical level with a clever little spell he had come up with that kept the heart pumping blood throughout the body but only as long as you held the spell. So physically the man would be alive but since he had not had oxygen circulating in him for too long, he would still be brain dead. Still, he could do some test on his body now at least.

Harry started on seeing how the body handled different bacteria and virus being introduced to it. The results had been a little disappointing to be honest. The witcher body did handle viruses and bacteria better than humans but not by much to be honest. In fact he had been surprised that it handled so poorly. He had seen the mutations that had been integrated into the bloodstream as well as most of the body. It should have been giving the body a much stronger immunity system then it currently had. Harry wasn't sure if it was flawed somehow or if he was missing something important.

The next thing he looked into was the muscle and tissues of a witcher. This was clearly where the mutagens shown through the most. Muscle density had definitely been increased and seemed to retain themselves much better than humans he had seen in the past. It explained their increased speed, agility and strength. He wished he could spell the man back to live to run him through some physical tests but sadly that wasn't really in the cards. Despite this, he still got the feeling that it could have been better. I mean, he probably couldn't give them high vampire level of strength and speed or anything close to it but there was definitely room for improvement. The last thing he had found was that the mutagen actually made the user sterile. That must have been bothersome if they ever wanted kids although it apparently hadn't stopped good ole Geralt from raising Ciri as his own daughter. Still, that was quite unfortunate.

Last but not least was the limited magic witchers used. This was actually the most impressive things that the mutagens seemed to due mainly because it should have been impossible. He hadn't encountered a single plant on this world that made him believe in the possibility of giving someone an artificial magic reserve. It was honestly amazing that every witcher didn't just implode in on themselves. If someone had asked Harry if there was even a slight chance of anyone surviving the process of what these mutagens did to the body then he would have laughed in their face and called them insane. It was an absolute miracle in his honest opinion. Still, witchers did have great promise. There magical pool was very small especially in this world where the sorcerers and sorceresses seemed to have much large magical pools than the ones from his world. Probably due to the fact that they didn't really use magical focuses. A witcher had just enough magic to perform some of the weaker spells, in fact, he was almost sure that the five main ones they knew had been modified specifically so that they could use them easier.

At the end of all his observations, Harry finally concluded that it was most likely that whoever made the formula to give witcher's their mutagens, they had made it by either luck on an accident. If the limited calculations he could make were correct, then it was a matter of luck as well as the order and timing of the administering that really made the difference. He was pretty sure that the mutagens all conflicted with each other in just a certain way that it would occasionally allow a strong enough individual to live through the trial. Then the mutagens would both work against and with each other to both strength the user as well as weaken the other mutagens in the body as much as they could. The final product of this, if it was successful, was a witcher. Witcher, being the poorly crafted mutated human being that was always on the cusp of death without even realizing it.

'I can't believe someone actually made such a poorly crafted formula...I mean obviously there are better ways to enhance people...I think...probably...hmmm...I wonder if ...NO! No I need to stay focused on the plan...but, I do still have quite a few years ahead of me after all. Getting some practice with anatomy of different creatures may end up helping...Well maybe just a few years of study I suppose. Then back to planning!'

 _Year 1229_

 _Harry's POV:_

"Are you the one they call the Black Mage?" a regal yet beautiful woman asked him. Harry just looked up from the book he was reading and gave a confused raised eyebrow at the woman who was flanked by two guards. He was currently in the beautiful city of Cintra trying to enjoy a nice read in a public garden. He was briefly conscious of the fact that the entire street was looking at the woman meaning she was either royalty or a noble.

"The what now?" Harry asked with confusion.

"The Black Mage. As in the immortal Black Mage that randomly appears every few years and cause both miracles and disasters wherever he goes." The woman said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Harry just stared at her in surprise. He didn't remember getting a title. Then again, he tended to stay away from towns and cities as there were usually at least one person that would cause him to lose his cool and go berserk and start killing.

"I don't think I have ever been called that in my life." Harry finally said without confirming or denying the woman's question as he did not know the answer himself.

"Was it not you who first appeared in Belhaven where you massacred part of the town because they were trying to kill a girl unjustly?" The woman continued to question calmly. Harry looked at the woman fully now. He did indeed remember killing some people in Belhaven because they had tried to execute an elven girl.

"It was hardly an actual portion of the town. Just some guards that tried to stop me. Everyone else just ran off." Harry remarked. The woman nodded with a satisfied smile.

"I thought it was you. I wish to beg for your assistance Black Mage as I am in dire need of your services." The woman said as he sat next to Harry with a serious look on her face. Harry had to hold in a sigh. The very last thing he wanted to do was have to throw his lot in with a noble. She either wanted to use his power or gain something from it. Neither was something he was okay with.

"I'm actually rather busy so you'll have to schedule an appointment." Harry said as he brushed the woman off and continued to read his book. He could hear the guards physically reaching for their swords. He also noticed the woman to his right waving her hand to calm her pissed off guards.

"Will you not at least listen to what I have to ask? I have been searching for you for months now and it seems destiny itself has brought you to my city. Would you please at least listen to what I have to ask?" The woman asked gently. It wasn't quite begging but it was close. That had gotten Harry's attention. Nobles tended to not beg for anything as they usually thought they were deserving of everything. To hear this woman beg spoke volumes. Also to hear that she had been apparently been looking for him was a little concerning.

"Fine. I make no promises to help you in any way but I will at least listen to what you have to say as long as you explain how you know who I am." Harry told the woman. She breathed a sigh of relief before smiling gratefully at him.

"I thank you for letting me speak. My name is Adalia. I am the queen of Cintra. I ask you to help with my daughter. I believe she has been struck with a terrible curse and has fallen ill. I have asked both Sorcerers and doctors to see her but none can find the source of her illness. I have many friends in the more magical community and have heard talk of you and your mysterious healing powers. I have been trying to track you down for months but had recently almost given up hope until I saw you as I was passing by. I myself have some minor skill with magic and was able to feel your power. I knew that it must have been you with the power and your clothing. I know it must have been destiny for our paths to meet today. Will you please help me." The woman both explained and asked him. Harry just took it all in for a minute. It would seem he had gotten a reputation without being aware of it by the magical community. Sure, he hadn't exactly been subtle but he thought with how devolved their communication ways were compared to his own world, knowledge of his person would have been lost in the confusion. Apparently not. It had also been noted that he was quite old after so many years of still being alive and looking so young. That could be a problem. He would need to tone down his visits to public places. If Ciri heard of him before they met...well he wasn't actually sure what would happen but that was just asking for a paradox.

"Hmm. Your daughter you say. Do you believe she's truly been cursed?" Harry asked.

"I do not know. I only know that neither magical nor regular treatments seem to have any effect on her." Adalia said to him. Harry thought about it. Of course he was going to help her. If she was the queen, than that means Ciri was probably a descendent of hers and her daughter. If her daughter died then there was a chance Ciri would never be born. Of course the girl could always heal without his interference but it also might have been that something Harry had done while here in this world could have affected the future and caused this girl to be sick. Either way, he'd rather be safe than sorry.

"Fine, I will go and attempt to heal your daughter." Harry agreed as he stood up from the bench and put the book he was reading in his black cloak which was something he was apparently going to have to change as it was now his calling card.

"Oh thank you so much. If you can accomplish her healing I will be most grateful and willing to grant you any reward within my power." Adalia said.

"There is nothing in your power that you could give me that I would want." Harry said to her as she led him towards the castle.

"Perhaps not but I shall offer anyways as you may one day change your mind." The woman said not letting Harry's statement get to her. The approached the tall castle in the city and walked in with no problem. It would be the first time he had been invited into a palace and not had break in secretly. There were random maids and servant that would bow as they passed. Harry found it weird as they were also bowing to him simply because he was with their queen.

"It is just up through here."Adalia gesture towards a stairwell. Harry nodded and continued to follow. After a few flights they came to a beautiful ornate door.

"Wait here." Adalia told the guards. This seemed to upset them once more.

"My lady, I do not wish to question you but wouldn't it be safer if we…" One of the guards tried before being cut off.

"We shall be fine. I have faith that the Black Mage will look after me if trouble arrives. Why don't you go attend to my husband actually." Adalia told them firmly leaving no room for argument. The guards still looked uncomfortable but bowed before departed. With them gone, Adalia gently opened the door.

"Calanthe dearest, are you awake?" Adalia asked gently into the cracked open door.

"Mama." a soft voice replied in the darkness. Adalia entered the room and gestured for Harry to do the same. Harry walked softly into the darkened room and did a quick look around. It was decorated in a way in which he expected a princess's room to be decorated. The only unnatural thing was that most of the furniture had been pushed against the wall. Harry moved closer to the large bed where he got a look at the girl who would one day be Ciri's grandmother if he had just heard her name correctly. She was a blonde girl that was incredibly pale and skinny. Most likely due to her disease. She had red spots on certain parts of her visible body that caused Harry' eyes to narrow.

"I have brought a man today to look over you and see if he can help. Please listen to what he tells you okay?" Adalia asked the girl. The girl seemed to nod weakly. Harry took that as his cue and walked over to her. He pulled up a nearby chair and sat next to the weak girl.

"Hello, Calanthe was it? What a pretty name. How old are you?" Harry asked her gently while subtly casting diagnostic charms on her.

"I'm approaching my eighth year. What is your name?" The girl asked Harry as she looked up at him. Despite her weak appearance, Harry could see strength boiling in those eyes.

"My name? Ah well you can call me Apollo. Eight years you said. Wow. You're getting pretty grown. I'm sure soon you will be a beautiful maiden that all the young boys go after some day." Harry told her as he finished his spells. The girl smiled weakly.

"Perhaps, or perhaps not." she said. Harry had to keep himself from frowning. While the girl didn't sound defeated, she did seem to accept the reality of her situation.

"I'm sure of it. Can you give me a moment? I'll be right back." Harry told her as he got up and went to a desk that was pushed against the wall. He tapped his wand on its surface and watched as words appeared on the wood giving him the diagnosis of the girl. Adalia walked over to him while he was doing this.

"What are you doing. Have you found what's wrong with her." Adalia asked eagerly yet also trying to keep quiet so her daughter wouldn't hear. Harry didn't answer he looked over the words and frowned. He knew what he was looking at. He had only ever seen it once before and it had not been this bad.

"Yes, I have found what ails her. She has a magical variant of Autoimmune disease." Harry told the woman. Adalia frowned.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It basically means that her body is confused and attacking itself. She was born with some magic in her blood. Not too much but what was there was quite powerful. Since their was so little of it however, her normal body has mistaken it for a foreign entity trying to invade it. It's basically attacking itself in hopes to kill off all the magic in her body not knowing that it's killing itself in the process. It's a very rare disease and the magical variant is even more so. I'm honestly surprised she has lasted this long. Cases this severe are usually quite fatal." Harry told the woman. Adalia had tears forming in her eyes.

"Is there nothing that can be done?" she asked still trying to maintain her quiet volume.

"I can probably trick the body back to normal and into thinking the magic inside of it is normal. I will need to grab a potion first. One that will settle her body and stop almost all non-vital activity. It will put her in a coma where she will be susceptible to my healing methods. After, I can give her the antidote to bring her out of it. As one of her guardians, I need your permission to continue with this procedure." Harry told Adalia as he went into full healer mode. Adalia took a moment to wipe her tears and get herself under control.

"Will it hurt her?" Adalia asked.

"The procedure itself won't hurt but she will feel sore on her whole body afterwards given how far it has spread. She will also need a strict diet and a certain amount of exercise per day to get her back to full health. I will give you notes after I finish if you would like." Harry told her. Adalia nodded before reaching out and hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." she whispered to him. Harry just awkwardly patted her back a few times until she let go.

"Right. Well I need to pop back to my lab to get my potion. I will be right back." Harry said as he apparated away with a pop. He appeared in his current little lab where he quickly ruffled through his trunk for a Draught of Living Death or this world's equivalent of it at least. Grabbing the bottle he then popped back to the palace where he saw Adalia looking surprised.

"I don't think I have ever seen a Sorcerer disappear like that before." she said in awe.

"Well I've always been a little...special." Harry said as he moved back next to Calanthe.

"Hello Calanthe. I have found what's wrong with you and am going to put you to sleep with this potion I have so I can start the procedure to heal you. Don't be afraid, I will give you the antidote as soon as I am done." Harry told the girl gently. The girl did her best to scowl.

"I'm not afraid. I fear nothing, not even death." she said bravely in a way only a child could pull off. Harry couldn't help the little laugh that escaped his mouth.

"I bet you aren't little lioness. I bet you aren't."


	5. Chapter 5

_Year 1251_

 _Geralt's POV:_

"A dragon?"

"Aye. A dragon. It's a big black one." The farmer told him with his arms crossed. Geralt just looked at the stubborn man. Dragon's we're extremely rare and hardly seen. It was most likely a Forktail or perhaps even a Slyzard.

"Does it breathe fire?" Geralt asked trying to puzzle out if this was actually a dragon.

"Well it's a dragon innit? So I imagine it does breathe fire." the farmer said with what sounded like a growing anger.

"Sure...who has it attacked?" Geralt asked hoping to see if their were any living witnesses.

"No one. It normally just flies around the mountains but since it's there, everyone's too afraid to cross the mountains and go to Rivia where we can sell goods." the farmer explained.

"What's it been eating? Not much game in the mountains. It must have to come down sometime for food." Geralt observed.

"How the hell should I know? You going to go kill it or not?" The farmer said finally getting frustrated with all of Geralt's questions. Geralt thought about it. This really didn't sound like dragon behavior to him. In fact he very much doubted it was a dragon at all. Probably just some draconid that the farmers had confused for one.

"Alright I'll deal with it. I'll be back for my coin once the deeds done." Geralt told the man. The farmer nodded apparently satisfied.

"About time you accepted. Beginning to think I was going to have to go hire someone else." The farmer said as if it were a threat. Geralt almost snorted at that but managed to keep his face still. There weren't many who would willing go after a dragon for such little coin. The real professionals didn't even go after dragons for contracts but rather for a chance to steal their horde once they killed it. As a general rule, Geralt tended to stay away from Dragons but in most cases there were rarely dragons involved. Geralt moved and approached his horse. A brown stallion he, of course, called Roach. He mounted him and looked towards the Mahakam Mountains. They looked no different than any time he had passed through them. He gave a slight kick to the horse to get it started towards the mountains. He knew there was usually some inhabitants that lived in the mountains so hopefully one of them could point him in the right direction. The climb up the mountain passes was surprisingly peaceful. He had not encountered anything besides a few wild animals who had scurried away as soon as he had gotten near. He hadn't even encountered any wolves which should have been more abundant nearer to the bottom which was odd. Still he pushed on towards the peaks.

Eventually the pass got to small for a horse and Geralt had to continue on foot. He was already quite high up at this point so he wouldn't have to push much further. He was actually surprised he hadn't found a nest or cave yet for whatever creature was nesting here. Not much mountain left and that meant there was less space to have a cave or a nest. Still, he continued on as he had already taken the contract. He pushed up higher and higher towards the peak. He was almost near the top when he noticed it.

"Medallion is humming….hmm." Geralt said to himself as he looked around. He was actually in a part of the trail where the path had widened considerably. To his left was the obvious long drop to the bottom where as the on the right there was an open space that had a rocky overhang. Now that he looked at it more closely, it looked almost looked like the start of a cave. Geralt frowned and walked forwards until he was near the wall. His medallion hummed even louder as he approached the wall.

"An illusion?" he asked himself. He touched the wall only to see his hand sink through it as if it wasn't even there. Geralt pushed forward through it as he confirmed his suspicion. As he pushed into the wall, the one thing that Geralt didn't expect to see was the most coziest cave he had ever seen in his life. The hidden cave had a comfortable warm feeling in it with torches all around it and a nice fire place in the middle with expensive chairs surrounding it. On one side there was a large open space that nothing had been done with. Off to the other side, there were quite a few book shelves, what looked like lab equipment, though not like any he had ever seen before, as well as a king sized bed. And in that king sized bed there appeared to be a man. A man sleeping quite comfortably if his light snores were any indication. Geralt walked up to the man and leaned down. The man appeared to be young with hair as black as night and a scar just above one of his eyebrows. He reached over and shook the man awake as he wanted some answers. The man opened his eye groggily and stared up at Geralt with confusion.

"Ummm….Can I help you with something?" The man asked Geralt. Geralt just raised a single eyebrow. Not quite the response he had been expecting from the man.

"Are you the one who has decorated this cave?" Geralt asked first. The man smiled at that.

"That I am. Why? Do you like it?" The man asked in a semi excited tone. Geralt just looked at the man. It was quite possible that he wasn't entirely all there. Geralt looked around the cave before looking at the man,

"Seems...cozy." He said drily. The man nodded as he got up and revealed himself to be wearing a simple shirt and trousers. A little strange as most people slept either in their undergarments or in nothing at all.

"I thought so to. That's the vibe I was going for. Wasn't really planning on having any guest, especially so soon but I guess it's not problem. What's your name stranger?" the man asked.

"Geralt of Rivia." He told the strange man. He didn't miss the twitch that had appeared for a second on the man's face as he gave his name.

"I see. The date must be closing in then. I guess I should start making preparations. Tell me Geralt of Rivia. What year is it?" the man asked as he started moving about and throwing on regular clothes.

"It's the year 1251. I have a few questions for you." Geralt said as he remembered what he wanted to ask.

"Shoot." The man said as he moved over to what looked like a work table near the rest of his lab equipment and started looking through his papers.

"Shoot what?" Geralt asked confused. The man just shook his head.

"Nothing. Ask your questions." The man told him.

"Who are you and what are you doing in this cave?" Geralt asked first.

"Name's Harry and I live here." The now identified Harry said to him.

"You live in this cave?" Geralt asked with some skepticism.

"That's what I said." Harry confirmed as he kept rifling through papers.

"Why?" Geralt asked.

"The privacy for the most part. I usually change caves every few years as people tend to find my abode and bother me nowadays. Unfortunate as I just moved here." Harry said.

"Hmm. I don't suppose you've seen a dragon around since you've moved here?" Geralt asked.

"Dragon? A big black one?" Harry asked as he looked up at Geralt. Geralt's eyes narrowed as that was just as the farmer described it as well. He nodded.

"Nah. Never seen it before." Harry said causing Geralt to look at him in surprise.

"You haven't see it… you just described it though." Geralt accused.

"I just said big and black. That could be all sorts of things. I can think of plenty of things off the top of my head that are also big and black." Harry said as he laughed a little. Geralt just looked at what he now firmly assumed was a crazy person. He then tore his eyes off the man and looked around the cave. Something in the big empty part caught his attention. He quietly walked over and got a closer look. On the floor of the cave were large claw marks that caused Geralt's eyes to widen. These claw marks were much too large and spaced apart to be a slyzard or a forktail. These were actually some of the biggest claw marks he had ever seen. There was no longer any doubt in his mind, this was a dragon's cave. He turned towards the strange man.

"We need to leave, now!" Geralt said. The man just looked up at him.

"Oh you're leaving already, well I wish you the best of luck on the road." Harry said as continued to quickly rifle through some pages. Geralt frowned and quickly walked up to the man, grabbed him with one arm, spun him around, and glared at him.

"Listen, I don't know who you are or why you're here but you picked the wrong cave to move into. This is the cave of a dragon. We need to leave before it comes back so grab what you can take and we're leaving NOW." Geralt said in as threatening tone as he could manage. Most would cave in to him at this point and do what he told them for fear of their life. Sadly, this just man just looked at him with annoyance.

"Man, you are REALLY hung up on this dragon thing. Though I guess I shouldn't really be too surprised knowing you and all...Alright, can you keep a secret?" Harry finally asked him. Geralt just looked at the man debating whether he would need to knock him out and drag him out of the cave.

"Ok stop. I know that look, you're planning to hit me aren't you? I never realized she got that scowl from you. Look, perhaps I should just show you." Harry told him. Geralt just furrowed his eyebrows in confusion more than anything else. The man was speaking nonsense as far as he was concerned. He opened his mouth to respond but found his hands suddenly empty with the sound of a pop. His eyes widened and he drew his sword at the ready.

"You are actually about as paranoid as I thought you would be." a voice said. Geralt spun and saw the man called Harry standing back near the emptiest part of the cave where he first saw the dragon claw marks. Geralt said nothing, he just readied his sword. He didn't know what to expect from the man but he knew he was either really fast or had magic. One meant he was most likely a vampire, the other could potentially be just as troublesome as he more than anyone knew mainly due to certain previous relations he had in the past.

"Do me a favor and try not to kill me or run away when I change." Harry said to the man. Geralt still said nothing as he prepared what could possibly a fight for his life. He expected the man to either charge him with extreme speed or use ranged attacks as most mages specialized in. What he did not expect was the man to fall onto all fours and start to rapidly expand and darken. He continued to expand until it was almost the height of the cave and as dark as the night itself. By now, he knew exactly what he was looking at. A dragon.

"You're a Dragon?" Geralt asked with some astonishment.

"You hit your head or something in the middle of my transformation? I'm clearly a Black dragon as you can see." The dragon said in a deep but familiar voice.

"I...I don't understand. How can you change shape if you are a dragon?" Geralt asked the dragon while lowering his weapon but still keeping it out.

"I am not a dragon that can turn into a man but rather a man that can turn into a dragon. I am a mage and it is one of my many abilities. It shouldn't surprise you too much. I have heard of other mages who can do something similar even if it's not to this extent." The dragon/man explained. Geralt processed that information for a second.

"So you're not a real dragon then? This is just some fancy transformation?" Geralt asked for clarification.

"That's hard to answer. When you take on another form in the way I have done, you do truly become the creature you turn into. You even gain some of the creatures tendencies and if you're not careful, can fully lose yourself to it. To answer your question, yes and no. It is a transformation but it doesn't make me any less of a dragon" Harry explained while Geralt listened.

"I see and what 'tendencies' have you gained due to this transformation of yours?" Geralt asked trying to see if he ate like a dragon or hoarded like one.

"Sharpened senses for the most part. That, as well as the want and ability to hibernate are the main things." Harry said. Geralt scrunched his brow at that.

"Dragon's don't hibernate." He said suspiciously.

"Aye, the ones here certainly don't. They are also not as big or as powerful as me either." Harry said to him. Geralt took that to mean that the dragon this man transformed into was either not native to these lands or a whole new one altogether. Both options would make sense which made it harder to pick which theory to choose from.

"Hmph...well I guess I can't complete the contract given to me then." Geralt said as he fully sheathed his blade and stared at the now shrinking dragon. Soon the man named Harry from earlier was standing in its place. Almost unbelievable.

"Yes well perhaps I can help with that. I have quite a sum of money. Perhaps I can repay your lost fee. How much were you getting paid?" Harry asked as he moved over to one of his trunks.

"You don't need to. I'll be fine." Geralt told the man.

"Nonsense, I know how Witchers live and how important contracts are. You were probably going to get quite a reward for a dragon. Go ahead and tell me." Harry told him. Eventually Geralt finally told him.

"250 orens? That's it? For a dragon? Man times must be tough." Harry said as he pulled out some coins.

"Well, I didn't believe you to truly be a dragon when I accepted the contract, there was not much dragon type behavior from what was described. Still, the fact that there's word that a dragon is in these mountains will cause dragon hunters to come running. Especially if the claims are verified. I would advise you to leave if you don't want trouble." Geralt said as he himself prepared to head out.

"Hmph. Well that's an annoyance. Here is the coin. 300 orens. Extra 50 for your troubles." Harry said kindly to the man. Geralt nodded.

"I appreciate it. I wish you well on your future travels." Geralt said walking backwards towards the exit.

"And I you Geralt. I am sure that we will meet again...at some point." Harry said as he and everything else in the cave vanished before his eyes. Geralt's cat like eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head and left the cave.

 _1252, Cintra_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry stayed hidden in the shadows of the room were loud screams of pain were echoing in the dimmly lit room. Harry wasn't paying attention to the screaming or the many handmaidens running around the room, instead he simply read a book in wait while hidden by charms in a corner of the room. He even had a sound charm up to lower the volume of incoming sound because the screaming was so loud.

Harry was reading a book on portals and their usage by normal mages. They seemed so horribly medieval compared to apparating. You also could not use them in combat which was a waste. Apparition could be used in combat with enough practice. Portals also seemed to work similarly in the fact that if you didn't know where you were going, you could potentially end up anywhere. Despite their faults, portals were much safer than apparating because there wasn't a chance to accidently splinch yourself if you did it wrong. If you did it wrong then it would just not work.

Harry raised his head from his book when he noticed the screaming in the room finally stopped. He looked over towards the bed in the room and noticed that most of the handmaidens had left with only one remaining. An additional man and woman had entered the room though. The new woman who had entered was familiar to him especially since he saved her life not too many years ago. Calanthe Fiona Riannon was now the Queen of Cintra as well as being a new grandmother as of just moments ago. One wouldn't be able to tell this from her face as she still looked relatively young as she was only 33 years old. The other man was apparently named Duny and was the father of the newly born girl. Ciri had never talked much about her biological father but he always got the feeling she wasn't exactly fond of the man, Harry couldn't see anything currently wrong with him. He seemed overjoyed by the girl resting in his arms as did everyone else in the room. The woman who gave birth, Pavetta, seemed exhausted but still managed a smile as she looked on at her newly born daughter as well.

"Well, what have you decided to name the girl?" Calanthe asked as she looked at her daughter.

"Cirilla." Pavetta responded looking adoringly at her new child.

"It is a wonderful name my love. One truly fit for a princess." Duny told his exhausted wife. Harry just watched the family coo over the new girl. Harry was happy that there was a new life in the world and happy with the family's happiness over the situation but it was not actually why he was here. It wouldn't make sense for him to go through all his work to avoid all things Ciri and then show up at her birth just to see her. He was here simply to verify that this was the Ciri he knew. He already knew that he had changed history to some extent so he needed to be sure that it hadn't changed to such an extent that his Ciri no longer existed. He waited for what felt like hours for them to take the baby and place her in a crib away from the bed to allow her mother to rest. Harry had to squash the healer in him to help them deal with the woman. They were using horribly outdated methods to ensure her health and Harry just wanted to swoop in and show them how it was done. He was, luckily, used to squashing his natural tendencies at this point and waited patiently. Finally, they put little Ciri in her crib and vacated the room to allow the mother to sleep. Harry waited until the mother fell asleep before he approached the crib still hidden under his charms. He stared down and looked at the child who still was squirming a little in her sleep. Harry reached out with his magic to touch little Ciri's and see if it matched the way it used to be. Everyone's magical signature was as unique as their blood meaning this was the only way he could truly tell if they were the same person. He waited a moment as he tried to really analyze the girl's magic and then smiled to himself. A perfect match. Harry smiled as he looked down with happiness at the girl.

'I shall see you again soon Ciri.' Harry thought as he disappeared silently from the room with no one the wiser.

 _1255_

 _Harry's POV:_

When Harry entered this particular inn at this particular non descript village, he never expected to see a highly visible splash of ashen hair at one of the tables. A familiar form accompanied the splash of ashen hair that was too bulky to be who he first had confused it to be. It also wouldn't make sense if it was her as she should still be a toddler but his second thought seemed to be the correct one. He walked over to the table and saw that Geralt had three guest. Two beautiful woman and a man that sat in the middle of them across from him.

"Evening Geralt. My it's been sometime since we saw each other. When was it….the castle? Oh no it was in the cave." Harry said to the man. He had forgotten for a second that Geralt hadn't known that Harry had been there the night he had gone to Cintra to drive away Ciri's father by the Queen's command. That had been an amusing night.

"Harry...What are you doing here?" Geralt asked him with surprise clear in his eyes.

"Oh you know me. I just pop in and out of places." Harry said as he sat next to the man since there was no real room on the other side of the table.

"Uh huh. So you just happened to be traveling into the same town as me, no other reason?" Geralt asked with suspicion. Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Geralt what possible thing do you think I could need your help with? Me?" Harry asked the man with a semi-serious, semi-joking manner. Geralt actually looked to be thinking on that.

"I suppose nothing then." He said after some thought.

"Exactly. So introduce me to your friends. Haven't met anyone new in ages." Harry said with a smile as he looked across the table at the man and his two female companions.

"That's Borch otherwise known as the Three Jackdaws. His two companions are Tea and Vea." Geralt said with a short head nod at each so Harry could tell the difference.

"A pleasure. My name is Harry." Harry said to them all with a smile. It didn't escape his notice that the male smelt of a dragon and he would know.

"A pleasure Harry. Me and your friend Geralt were just having a discussion on dragons." Borch said with a smile as he poured some ale in a spare cup and handed it to Harry. Harry took it gratefully.

"Oh do continue. I happen to have quite the fascination with the creatures." Harry said. Geralt snorted quietly into his drink at that.

"Well to be specific we were talking about Golden Dragons and whether they could be myths or perhaps mutants of the species.

"Again, if they were mutants than they most likely died out by now." Geralt said adding to the conversation.

"Well you're both wrong." Harry said.

"Oh? So you believe in them then?" Borch asked him with a curious look.

"Of course. Beautiful creatures. Insanely smart too." Harry said as he took a swig of his drink. Tasted pretty good to his surprise.

"You've met one?" Borch asked with some surprise.

"Met is a strong word. I observed him for awhile. Seemed like a pleasant sort. Just sort of flew around and ate things in a certain mountain range he inhabited. He tended to avoid people and went to great lengths to do so. I almost missed him when I first saw him." Harry said to them. The three new people seemed very interested in what he said.

"Fascinating. When was this?" Borch asked. Harry tilted his head up in thought.

"Well let's see...it's 1255 now so...about 70 to 80 years ago, give or take 5 years." Harry said.

"70 years ago! How old do you expect us to believe you are?" Borch said a little too loudly.

"A century I suppose, give or take a decade. Harry said with his mischievous smirk as he downed his drink.

"You have a wild imagination my friend." Borch said. Harry smiled

"One of the many things I have yes." Harry replied.

"You also said we were both wrong about our thoughts on what a Golden Dragon is. So what do you think it is?" Borch asked.

"A Golden Dragon is simply a dragon that got lucky off his parent''s success. When a dragon is able to suck up huge amounts of magic in its body over it's lifetime, it is then possible for it to give birth to a Golden Dragon. Normal dragons have no real other use for magic so when they lay eggs, their body condenses all the magic they have stored up and presses it into the egg. The baby dragon then absorbs the magic into it to first strengthen its body as well the strengthen its fire. This is why the first born dragons are usually stronger." Harry explained to the men. He saw he had the rapt attention of everyone at the table including Geralts.

"The problem is that usually dragons give birth to multiple babies at the same time. The magic then has to be distributed to all the babies with the oldest getting the most and the youngest getting the least. The amount of magic required to even have a chance of making a Golden Dragon is so much that there can only be one baby to absorb it all as well as an extremely large amount of magic stored in the parent. So you can see why they are so rare now. The circumstances to their birth are just very hard to accomplish which is why only one, maybe two, are seen every century or two" Harry explained. Admittedly, he may have done more than simply observe the last golden dragon he had seen but it actually had been no problem figuring out how they were born. Nundu's back on his home world where born in the same way but on a much more successful scale. As soon as he had found the tell tale signs of that type of birth with the last Golden dragon, he knew how they were created.

"A fascinating theory, one I had admittedly never thought of. How sure of this theory are you?" Borsch asked. Harry shrugged.

"Very sure but not quite completely. I would bet quite heavily on it but there is always room for failure no matter how much you try to change it." Harry told them.

"How fascinating. You still think it's mutants after hearing that Geralt?" Borch asked good naturedly. Geralt gave a little grunt.

"If Harry says it magic that makes them then I'm sure he would know better than me." Geralt said as he took another chug of his drink.

"You have much faith in this man. You must be quite something to impress such a witcher." Borch declared. Harry smiled almost politely.

"I only know what I know. So, you never told me what both of you are doing in this random pub. Are you traveling somewhere together?" Harry asked them. Geralt shook his head.

"Just got finished with a contract. Basilisk. Some villagers wanted to help themselves to my things while I was taking care of it. Borch, however, stopped them until I arrived." Geralt said. Harry looked at the dragon smelling man impressed. Not many were willing to stand up for Witchers.

"Well, that was nice of him." Smiling at the man. Borsch just tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"Well, it was nice catching up with you Geralt and meeting your lovely acquaintances. Unfortunately, I am terribly busy these days and I must be off once more" Harry said as he stood up from his seat on the bench.

"Ah. Are you sure my friend? Me and Geralt still haven't ordered food yet. You should stay and eat with us." Borch said.

"Unfortunately I simply don't have the time. I wish you all wellness. Geralt, I'm sure we'll run into each other again. Au Revoir!" Harry said as he disappeared with an almost silent pop. He didn't even give them a chance to say goodbye.

 _Geralt's POV:_

Geralt sat around a fire with both Dandelion passed out on the ground near him and Yennefer sitting reading a book on the other side. They had just left the mountain peaks where they had encountered the golden dragon, otherwise known as Borch. That had been a surprise, even more surprising than when he had first met Harry. He had not slayed the dragon and had simply listened to what the dragon had idiot dwarves and king had almost got him and Yen killed after they refused to honor the deal of their knight. Borch had dealt with them nicely enough. Yennefer hadn't been in a great mood ever since they had left. She didn't seem quite as upset with him but more disappointed about not getting the dragon parts she wanted. Geralt could understand as he knew that Yennefer really wanted to have a child at some point. He looked at her and against his better judgement, decided to talk to her.

"What are you reading?" Geralt asked trying to make conversation. Yennefer just looked at him with her patented' you're an imbecile' look that Geralt was use to at this point.

"What am I reading. Why? What do you possibly get out of knowing? Are you going to engage me in conversation about it and astound me with your surprising knowledge on obscure magical people?" Yennefer asked patronizingly. Geralt just shrugged and looked at her waiting for her to answer. Yennefer looked at him for a moment before seeming to cool down. It was clear she might still not be in the best mood.

"It is a journal from a sorcerer I believe to be the Black Mage." Yennefer said. Geralt's eyebrows furrowed at that.

"Who's the Black Mage?" Geralt asked.

"The Black Mage is a infamous mage who is said to be immortal and wanders the lands doing a mixture of helpful and frightening things. He is said to be an expert in magic as well as extremely illusive. He has been a topic of discussion in the magical community for almost a century now. Many thought he was an elf at first with some of his actions as well as his life span. That was disproved though as any who have had the chance to glimpse at him have stated he looks nothing like an elf nor does he have a single elven feature." Yennefer finished explaining. Geralt thought on that.

"Hm. Sounds impressive. You say you think you may have found his journal. What makes you unsure it's legitimate?" Geralt asked.

"Several things, the most prominent being that I bought it off a merchant on his way to Vizima for just a few orens. He said he found it in a cave he had used for a camp one night. He knew it was the journal of a mage from reading it himself. It would have been too easy for him to write it though for a quick coin." Yennefer said as she looked down at her book skeptically.

"Yet you still believe it for some reason." Geralt observed. Yennefer turned to him and eyed him for a moment.

"I do. Anyone who know's of the Black Mage could possibly recognize this as his journal with how deeply it recounts some of the experiences that the Black Mage is known for. If he were trying to pass it off as real then the merchant would have tried to sell it for a lot more meaning he probably sold it not knowing about the Black Mage. Therefore it is very unlikely he wrote it himself. Still, it would take quite a bit of luck for it to end up in my hands don't you agree?" Yennefer asked him. Geralt nodded in agreement.

"So is the book interesting at least?" Geralt asked.

"Oh yes, if a bit unbelievable. He talks about healing and murder quite a bit. He also goes on and on about these plans for a girl he knows that hasn't been born yet. I believe he purposely leaves some things out though. He never mentions his own name nor the name of the girl. He also never mentions what plans he has for her. It all just sounds so unbelievable yet so interesting as well. He also talks about how he is supposedly from a different world and how our magic differs from his. It's almost so ridiculous that you can't help but believe it surprisingly."

"Fascinating. Do you believe him to still be alive?" Geralt asked.

"I do. He still appears every now and then. Many times he appears in hospitals and starts healing people. No sorcerer has ever caught him and gotten to talk to him though. He seems to have a sixth sense for avoiding us. I'd kill to have just a few moments to talk with him." Yennefer said almost bitterly. Geralt looked at her with some confusion before it dawned on him. This Black Mage sounded like an expert magical healer and perhaps she thought he might be able to help her with her problem with birth.

"Perhaps you could try tracking him down." Geralt suggested.

"I doubt I would be successful, he is remarkably good at hiding and covering his tracks." Yennefer said.

"Well you have to start somewhere. What do you know about him? Anything in that journal give a hint at something we could use to track him down." Geralt asked.

"We? Are you trying to tell me you want to come?" Yennefer asked with a smirk. Geralt shrugged.

"I don't have any plans." He admitted.

"Well...there is one thing. In a recent entry that I have read, he mentions a particular ability he has. He seems to have found a way to turn into another creature through magic." Yennefer said. Geralt immediately thought of a certain mage he knew that happened to turn into a dragon on his off time. Still, turning into animals was an ability that other sorcerers could accomplish with enough skill and practice so perhaps it was just coincidence.

"What animal?" Geralt asked.

"Well that's the thing... He claims that he can turn into a dragon." Yennefer said.

"...Oh hell."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay. I was on spring break and visiting my family.**

 _1262, Cintra_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry watched silently as Geralt and Ciri as well as another man that he did not recognize walked into the little hidden Dryad village within Brokilon. Harry knew what was about to happen, Eithné would no doubt try to turn Ciri into one of her people no doubt seeing the deep potential in her. Nothing Geralt would or could say would change that. Harry on the other hand was very different. He knew there were things he could and would say that would change Eithné's mind.

By this point, Geralt and Ciri were taken to Eithné. Geralt made a polite gesture to the woman while Ciri stood behind him looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but there. Eithné started to speak to them as well as another member of her little village looking serene as could be. Harry smiled briefly at the fact that Eithné could no longer pull such looks when he was around. Eithné, he knew, found his presence to be annoying yet he also knew that he had grown on her a little. He had put enchantments all over Brokilon once to ensure no one could navigate it unless they were a Dryad. Eithné knew of this and he knew she was thankful though she had never said it outloud. They had a strange relationship that he was sure confused Eithné at the best of times. Harry paid back attention to what was é said something else about letting the group rest and stay for the night and so they did. Harry did not sleep that night though, he simply watched Ciri and Geralt for he didn't feel tired at all.

When morning came, Harry was still up and still watching both Geralt and Ciri as they once again engaged in an argument with Eithné over Ciri. Harry continued to stare at the group and watched as Geralt seemed to be arguing harder while at the same time trying to still be polite. Eithné silenced him with a stern look and said something in return before pulling out a cup full of a strange liquid. That was when Harry interfered. He quickly cast the paralyzing then stasis charms on both Geralt and Ciri so they would be frozen and have no idea that time was passing them by. Eithné looked confused for a moment before a scowl crossed her face.

"Harry, come out now." She demanded. Harry obliged her demand and stepped out of a nearby shadow looking sober.

"Hello Eithné, you're looking as beautiful as ever." Harry said politely and with a smile hoping to warm her up a little though he knew the attempt was futile.

"What have you done? I demand that you release them immediately!" Eithné said raising her voice. Harry just shook his head.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. At least, I can't yet anyway. You and I need to talk." Harry said to her. Eithné glared at him but made no move to attack though for a second she looked as if she was itching to go for her bow leaning against a wall near her.

"What is it?" she asked as she visibly restrained herself. Harry conjured a chair and sat in it while crossing one leg over the other.

"I know that you want this girl right here to join your little merry band of villagers for all eternity. I know you see the great potential as well as power within her. I also know that you know her true identity. So you will understand when I say that you may not have her. That she is not for you to take away from her destiny." Harry said seriously as he looked at Eithné. Eithné did not looked pleased at that.

"You have no right to dictate who joins and who leaves my village Sorcerer. I am the leader here and as the leader I decide who joins and who doesn't join." Eithné said icily back to him. Harry nodded.

"I thought you would say something like that. I once told you I would give you a choice Eithné. I am a man of my word so here it is. Either you let this girl and her witcher companion go freely, or I will burn this village and everyone in it to the ground. Then I will burn all of Brokilon to the ground, not because I necessarily want to see it gone but because I will use it as a message in the future to all those who try and stand against me. Or, you could let them go in which case I will leave you and your people alone and, should you wish it, never return to Brokilon again. The choice is yours." Harry said with a serious look as he radiated power from every pore of his body. He could see that it had a physical effect on Eithné.

"So...That's what this has been about, you wish to control the prophecy?" Eithné asked though it sounded more like a statement. Harry shook his head once again.

"I could give two shits about the prophecy and what it says. I care nothing for it at all. The girl is all that matters to me and her happiness. There will be many in her life who seek to take it away from her and I will be the one to make sure that all who oppose her will eventually be maggot food. None shall stop me or stand in the way of this goal of mine." Harry said. Eithné stayed silently and seemed to be thinking over what he had told her. She looked very displeased at the options she was being given but Harry already knew that she would make the right choice. She loved her family to much to put them at risk against him.

"Fine, take them and begone. Never return to Brokilon." Eithné finally spat out. Harry shook his head surprising her.

"That's not how this works, see I can't let them know about me interfering just yet. So here is what you're going to do, instead of your little brain washing juice, you will give them this." Harry said as he held out a hand and a cup appeared out of thin air that mirrored the one that Eithné had in her hand. Even the contents appeared to be the same.

"Give them both this. It will cause nothing more than some hallucinations but will ultimately leave them with their minds and you with the excuse that fate interfered. Do it exactly as I have instructed or the deal will be off and I will kill you all." Harry said to her. He hated playing the bad guy but also wouldn't feel too bad about it. Eithné and her little forest band killed many people and lots of them were innocent of nothing more than stepping into the forest, some not even on purpose. Eithné was not someone he would describe as a good or nice person but rather some who fell into the shades of grey in the world. That wasn't even mentioning the fact of the destruction of many minds of the women who she recruited just so she could mold them into something more to her liking. Had this been Britain, Eithné would have been given a death sentence for all that she had done. As much as he liked her, Harry knew she was getting off lightly.

Eithné took the cup from him and stared at the contents for a moment before looking at him gravely.

"After this you will leave?" she asked. Harry nodded but said nothing.

"Fine, I will give them this and send them on their way with no mention of you. Now begone from my village and I shall pray to the gods that I never see your face again." Eithné said angrily as she waited for him to leave.

"Goodbye Eithné. I hope our paths never have to cross again, for your sake." Harry said as he once more stepped into the shadows of the room and disappeared from view before releasing the paralysis and stasis charms he had put on both Geralt and Ciri. He did not actually leave of course. He would make sure that Eithné honored their agreement and would make good on his threat otherwise.

Luckily there seemed to be no need as Eithné did honor their agreement though she didn't look happy and he had a feeling that Geralt had picked up on it but decided to say nothing for his own safety. Eventually she gave Ciri the cup and saw that it had little effect on her. This was on purpose as the concoction was dulled by magic and Ciri had spades of it. Geralt however was not so lucky and went through quite the unpleasant experience as he fell to the ground. Ciri looked over him but could do nothing. Harry was not concerned as he had made sure there would be no lasting effects for Geralt. He watched the Dryads take both Ciri and Geralt and deposit them into the forest semi near the border where Geralt finally awoke. Harry lifted the enchantments so they would be able to actually leave the place. He watched them walk out of the forest and once more set off down a road. He knew what was coming next but also knew he could not interfere any further so with one last look at the two companions, he disappeared into the night.

 _1262, Vengerberg_

 _Yennefer's POV:_

Yennefer sat in her posh mansion with a nice glass of Evoluce and was once more reading the journal of the man who she believed to be the Black Mage. It had been years now since she had found it and she had already finished it multiple times but there was something that would always bring her back to it. Perhaps it was hope that maybe one day she would find the one detail that would finally help her track the man down. Perhaps it was the foolishness of a woman who no longer had any options left to her. No matter what it was, she still found a purpose to continue to read it every now and again. She remembered when she and Geralt had tried to track the man down together with little success and eventually splitting off after an argument or two. Her heart still ached a little when she thought about it.

"It's at least a good read I hope?" A voice said startling Yennefer who shot from her seat and had a spell halfway done by the time she looked at the man who was sitting down in a chair that looked very much like the one she was sitting in.

"How bold you must be to break into a sorceress's house and then foolishly announce your presence. What is it that gives you such bravery, and speak quickly for you will find I have very little patience." Yennefer said as she glared at the man. The man didn't seem put off at all that he was being threatened by her.

"Oh I just came to pick up a bit of property of mine that you seemed to have acquired." The man said. This caused Yennefer to glare even harder at him.

"I have stolen nothing from you so now it would be best for you to leave before the small patience I told you about wears out." Yennefer spat as she wondered how the man had silently gotten past the protections on her house. He must be a sorcerer and most likely a powerful one. Could he be trying to kill her perhaps? An assassination attempt? But from who, what king had had ordered her head?

"I didn't say you stole it only that you had acquired it, and you do most definitely have it. In fact, unless my eyes are starting to go, you were just reading it right now." The man said as he summoned the journal that had fallen to the ground into his hands and opened it to the page Yennefer was sure she had just been reading.

"Hmm. I see you were reading about the part where I was messing with Witcher mutagens. I had some success with that, I raised the odds 1 to 10 out of every child being a witcher to 6 or 7. Not a complete success but I had become busy with other things at the time as I am sure you already know." the man said as he gently closed the book and looked at her. It didn't take a second longer for Yennefer to understand just who exactly she was talking to.

"You're the Black Mage?" she asked though she already knew the answer. The man just nodded.

"My friends call me Harry and I'd ask you to call me it as well. I'd also like you to not let that get around." Harry told her. Yennefer knew his real name from Geralt already but it was nice to have confirmation directly from the source.

"Have you come just for your book then?" Yennefer asked wondering if he had possibly found out she was looking for him.

"Aye. Though I find it curious that it ended up in your hands out of all the people in the world. Could you perhaps tell me how you acquired my book?" Harry asked, though Yennefer got the feeling he was doing so only out of formality than anything else.

"A traveling merchant claimed to have found the book in a cave he spent the night in and sold it to me for a few orens. I don't think he knew it was yours." Yennefer explained. Harry nodded at her explanation.

"Funny how that works out. I suppose it was Fate more than anything else, that bitch. Well, now that I have the book I should be off. Thank you for it's return." Harry said as he stood from the chair. Yennefer's eyes widened as she put her hands out to stop him.

"Wait...I wish to ask you some questions if you would. Afterall, I did technically pay for the book you're now taking. At least allow me to ask you some things in repayment for my money that I spent on it." Yennefer said to the man. A ghost of a smile appeared on Harry's face as he stared at her in amusement.

"You seek to be reimbursed for recovering my lost property that you feel you own because you paid a random merchant for it who found it in a cave where I left it. Is that correct?" Harry asked her. Yennefer looked him in the eyes and smiled alluringly at the man.

"Yes of course, you won't mind spending a little time with me would you?" Yennefer asked sensually, trying to charm the man into staying. The man just threw his head back in laughter which both angered and annoyed Yennefer.

"You're a century to early to be trying to charm me into doing something Lady Yennefer but nevertheless, I suppose I can spare a few moments. Speak quickly and I will either answer honestly or not at all." Harry told her. Yennefer breathed a sigh of relief, at least she had gotten him to stay, despite the fact that he had practically insulted her.

"Excellent, as you can imagine, I found many surprising things in your journal. Is all of it true?" she asked. She figured she would start off light then work her way into what she really wanted.

"It is." Harry responded simply. Yennefer had hoped he would elaborate but he simply stared at her pleasantly and waited for her to ask something else. She had to stop from gritting her teeth in annoyance at the man.

"What was the world you left like?" She asked trying to remain civil.

"Advanced, beautiful, and boring. I understand you're trying to butter me up before you get to what you really want but I have to go soon so could you just ask me what you desire so I may be off." Harry finally said. Yennifer scowled but soon wiped the look from her face.

"So be it. In your book you mention several times your ability to heal almost anything and if you can't you usually can find ways to. Is this true?" Yennefer asked.

"It is." Harry said as he continued to look at her. Yennefer just realized the man hadn't blinked once as he stared her directly in the eye this entire conversation. It was almost unnerving especially from one who looked so young.

"Good. As you may know, sorceresses are infertile and cannot conceive children." Yennefer started.

"Most not all. There are rare exceptions to every rule but continue with your point." Harry said to her. Yennefer wished she could scold him for interrupting but was currently in need of his help so therefore would need to play nice for the time being.

"Yes well. I wish you to heal my reproductive system if at all possible." Yennefer finally said. There was a moment of silence as the man just looked at her and Yennefer could tell he was surprised.

"You wish to have a child. Why?" The man asked curiously. Yennefer's heart skipped a beat.

"Do I need a reason to want and try my hand at being a mother. Most women, it's expected of them, why should I be denied the chance." Yennefer said in an almost frustrated tone. Harry once more just looked at her. He sat silently as he seemed to be contemplating something in his head.

"I...can unfortunately not give you what you ask for. I am sorry." Harry said to her. Yennefer felt her body fill with rage at the words but quickly calmed herself.

"May I ask why you will not help me? If it's about money…" Yennefer tried.

"It is not about money. It is simply about me not being able to meddle in certain matters that might affect certain things. My hands are tied on this my lady. I am sorry." Harry responded sadly. Yennefer looked down for a moment and did her best not to let tears escape her eyes at that moment. All these years thinking that he would be the answer only to find yet another dead end. Perhaps she was stuck in this lot in life. Maybe she just deserved it.

"I can not heal your organs but...I do see a child in your future." Harry said calmly. Yennefer's eyes shot up and looked at him.

"What do you mean, are you saying there is something else that can heal me?" she asked

"No, but I do see a child. A girl. You will love her very much and she will love you. An unexpected child at that. She will be quite the surprise I am sure. Remember to keep you eyes open for possibilities Lady Yennefer as they present themselves to us everyday and in the most peculiar ways. I must leave now but perhaps I should leave some parting words before I go. Always remember that the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." Harry told her as he stood and looked to be about to leave the room.

"Wait, hold on. What does that mean?" Yennefer said. Harry smiled.

"It means the family that YOU choose will always be more important than the one your blood chooses for you. Goodbye Lady Yennefer. Enjoy the rest of Beltane." Harry said and with that he was gone. Yennefer just stood there staring at an empty room with surprise and then annoyance. The man had not used a portal to make his exit. He had simply warped and disappeared into thin air. She had never seen anything like it before.

Yennefer sighed to herself after spending a few more moments in the room by herself. She went to her room and prepared for bed. That night she dreamt of Geralt. A wonderful dream for her.

It was Beltane after all.

 _1262, Cintra_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry stood on top of one of the highest buildings in the city of Cintra and watched the horizon. He could see the Nilfgaardian army from here and there seemed to be thousands marching towards the city. He watched the towns people scramble for cover as well as leaving the city while the city guard and what remained of the city army prepared to defend the city to their dying breath. They probably were only a thousand men strong if Harry estimated correctly. Even if he didn't already know what was happening, he could have easily guessed. Cintra would be crushed, it was no longer a matter of if but when. Ciri had not told him how long Cintra had lasted but if Harry had to guess, he would say that this would be over in 24 hours. Nilfgaard was coming from three sides leaving only one side for people to escape. Sadly there was a river that slowed down the escape of the townspeople. Harry wasn't concerned about that though. He was only concerned about the royal family. It seemed that Calanthe was not going to let the city go down without a fight and she seemed to want to lead that fight. Harry watched both forces finally meet just outside the city with a great roar.

Harry sighed. To be completely honest, he was quite tired of wars. He had partaken in a few while he had been here for causes he had felt were just. Nothing major but involved enough that he was honestly tired of seeing people die to satisfy rulers greed for power and land. Nilfgaard was no different and he had a feeling that sooner or later he would come to blows with them. He didn't like their 'conquer the world' attitude nor did he like this Emhyr var Emreis. He reminded Harry of Lucius Malfoy. He was glad Draco had eventually given up the whole blood purity thing and just stayed out of politics entirely. Lucius however, had to die and had done so by his hand. Emhyr would probably be the same. Plus there was the whole situation of him being obsessed with Ciri. Couldn't have that.

As he continued to stare at the battle, a crow flew down from the sky and landed on his shoulder. Harry didn't even look at the bird as it put its beak at his ear and, surprisingly, whispered into it.

' _He has scouts in the city searching for her now. The army is a distraction. To the North-East. We are tracking them.'_ the crow murmured as it hopped of his shoulder and took to the skies in the direction it had just told him. Harry looked into the direction and did indeed see a swarm of crows to the North-East, further into the city. He took one look back at the battle before apparating towards a rooftop in the middle of the swarm of inconspicuous crows that no one seemed to be paying attention to. They also were not paying attention to him as he looked down into an alley and saw three men in a panicked rush to not draw suspicion yet they were moving towards the castle. His eyes never left the men as they ducked down an alley probably not knowing it was a dead end. Harry apparated once more into the alley entrance and covered it in charms to steer everyone clear of it.

"Hold up Kalisk, This is a dead end you twit. If you can't read the goddamn map then let me read it." A man said with an accent.

"Hold on a moment I know where we are. We're here, we just took a wrong turn but were close." The man identified as Kalisk said pointing at a piece of paper he had in his hands. Harry said nothing as he waited for the men to turn around and notice him and he didn't have to wait long.

"Wait a moment, who's this?" The final man who had not said anything yet said as he finally looked back at Harry who simply continued to stand there. The man named Kalisk turned to him. With all the men turned to him, Harry could understand why the king would choose them. They clearly weren't the smartest but all three could pass for locals of Cintra.

"Evening gentleman. Wouldn't happen to be out and about for a kidnapping would you?" Harry asked them in an almost pleasant tone. They had an immediate twitch that confirmed his thoughts.

"Kidnapping? No sir. We are just a little lost you see. Trying to get out of town before Nilfgaard shows up like everyone else." Kalisk responded

"Oh? How long have you lived in this city?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh ever since we were little!" Kalisk said as his friends nodded nervously.

"Yet you do not know how to leave nor do you seem to be carrying anything to take with you. How strange. I'm afraid I don't believe you gentleman which is quite unfortunate for you since I am sure you can guess what happens next. Well you can guess the end result, I doubt you would have guessed how we're getting to that end result. No matter. Try not to scream." Harry told them calmly.

"Alright enough of this. Let's gut the bastard and be done with this." The man to Kalisk's right said as he pulled out a dagger. His companions followed suit. Harry said nothing, he simply waved his hand and silently summoned the daggers from their hands to directly in front of him in the air. The man started to curse.

"Shite, he's a sorce…" Kalisk tried to say but Harry did not let him finish. He rotated the daggers in the air to point back at their owners and banished them with as much precision he could muster. He was rewarded with three simultaneous 'schlick' noises as the daggers entered the men's throats. Harry smiled as he gave himself a mental pat on the back because of the precision he managed which he had been working. Harry looked at the dead bodies and decided to simply leave them there. The Nilfgaardians would eventually find them when they took the city or they wouldn't. Either way, Harry couldn't care less as he apparated away from the murder scene.

 _The Next Day_

"Listen to me child. Gestan will take you to the river. You must cross it and get to the otherside. Find the Witcher. He will take care of you. Do you understand me?" Calanthe said as she was down on one knee in front of her granddaughter. Harry hated these type of scenes. Watching families get torn apart was the worse part of war. Especially when you knew the family which Harry must definitely did at this point.

"I don't want to grandmama! I want to stay with you!" Ciri said as she clinged to her grandmother with tears leaking down her face. Calanthe wrapped her arms around Ciri for what was going to be the last time.

"I'll always be with you Ciri. Inside you. I love you more than anything, always remember that...Gestan, take her from here. Don't stop till you've crossed Yaruga. Protect her with your life." Calanthe commanded. A young man waiting in armor a few feet from them nodded his head. He walked over and picked Ciri up and literally dragged her away from Calanthe.

"It has been a honor my queen. I will protect her to my dying breath." Gestan said as he bowed one last time and ran out of the throne room with Ciri who still screamed in protest.

"NO GRANDMAMA PLEASE DON't MAKE ME GO. GRANDMAMA!" Ciri screamed as the man took her out one of the side doors. Calanthe watched them leave with tears pooling in her eyes. A rarity as any who knew her could tell you.

"My Lady? What shall we do?" A knight behind her asked. Calanthe wiped her tears and controlled herself before turning around. There were knights and nobles now flooding the room.

"Barricade all the doors. Cintra shall never bow to Nilfgaard. If they want the throne then they will have to take it from our cold dead hands." Calanthe answered. The knights face hardened but he nodded. Harry had seen enough as he sat crouched in the rafters of the hall. He quietly apparated away to an alley where a horse was tied and hidden waiting for him. He hopped on the horse and waited for a few moments among the now burning city. He tried to ignore the screams of pain and terror he could clearly hear. After a few minutes, he saw a black horse with a man in full armor and a small person he was holding onto, speed by as fast as their horse could go. It was the flash of white hair that gave away the final hint of who was on the horse. They sped by but Harry continued to wait as they were not who he was waiting for. He didn't have to wait long either as it was maybe 20 more seconds before a storm of horses went by all with men in full black armor and all going the same direction as Ciri. When the last horse went by, Harry kicked his to get it running and chased after the black armored men. Apparating wouldn't be able to keep up with this as it was a constant chase and he couldn't simply wait ahead of them because he was unsure of their path as well as not wanting to let Ciri see him. So he rode and he rode hard.

It didn't take them long to exit the city and start approaching the Yaruga. Sadly, it had seemed that Gestan's luck had run out. It seemed that one of the Nilfgaardians had a crossbow with them and had struck the man's horse in the head causing it to fall down dead. Gestan wrapped himself around Ciri as they fell to protect her. Harry slowed his horse to a stop and thanked whoever listened that they were in a small forest and he had some cover to stay hidden. He watched briefly what was happening. Gestan stood from the ground clearly injured. He shoved Ciri in the direction of the river.

"Go princess. Run and don't look back, I will stall them as long as I can." Gestan said as the Nilfgaardians got off their horses and pulled their swords.

"Gestan…" Ciri said with tears.

"I SAID GO. RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK!" Gestan yelled as he charged at the nearest man and surprisingly was able to to catch him off guard and pierce threw a chink in his armor at the neck. This time, Ciri decided to listen and ran as Gestan fought like a caged animal. As soon as Harry felt Ciri get far enough away, he moved in to help the man. He wasted no time

" _Sectumsempra"_ Harry said. The curse was basically an invisible sword that slashed into a target multiple times. Harry had modified it for group use so it would send more of a wave a swords in a direction and when it found a target, it would only slash them once. So less power than normal but with a sword slash it hardly mattered unless you were magical. You were either going to be dead or dying. And dead or dying the five men who it hurt were as they all screamed and fell to the ground with their armor not helping a bit. This seemed to alarm the last 4 men as their commander, a man who was in heavy armor with black bird like wings on his helmet.

"Finish the man and go for the girl. I will deal with the sorcerer." The man said menacingly.

"Hm. Not likely. You see I happen to know that you caused someone I care for to have nightmares for years. That's a lot of suffering that I need to pay you back for." Harry retorted with a sneer.

"We shall see." The man said as his boys went back to attacking the injured Gestan. Harry summoned a long branch and transfigured it into a long sword. Harry circled the man. Yes, he could have, easily murdered the man with magic, but sometimes you just needed to get up close and personal in a way that magic simply could not replicate. That, and Harry had A LOT of anger and frustration built up from the last twenty-four hours.

The man took a step forward and swing with a horizontal slash with his broadsword. Ciri had once told him that he should never try to block a sword strike. That he was built more for speed than for strength. Remembering this, Harry swung his sword diagonally across his body to hit the man's sword upwards and giving Harry an opening to dodge under it. Harry was no witcher but he did consider himself pretty fast and this man WAS in heavy armor. Despite this, the man recovered quite quickly. Harry, however, decided to go on the offensive. He feinted right but actually lowered his blade from a downward slash to a horizontal one catching the man off guard. Sadly the blade simply scraped against the man's armor.

"You fought honorably sorcerer. You chose not to use magic even when knowing it put you at a disadvantage but even you can see this is the end." The man said in a deep voice. Harry nodded.

"You're right. It seems I am out of practice with the blade. Much too heavy. Problem is for you that I am a sorcerer." Harry said as he stabbed the sword into a ground and instead picked up a much smaller stick. A stick which was soon a beautiful dagger.

"I need more speed is the problem." Harry said.

"Speed is no matter. Skill is what matters." The man said. Harry nodded.

"I think we can both agree on that." Harry said and charged straight at the man. The man quickly lifted his sword and swiped at him only for Harry to drop to his knees and slide under the incoming blade and past the mans legs. Harry quickly spun and sliced right behind the man's knee caps causing him to yell in pain, drop his sword, and fall to his knees. Harry stood up and walked casually back around the man. The man looked downwards as he was on his hands and knees.

"I still didn't use magic, does that mean I was being honorable?" Harry asked rhetorically as he pulled his longsword from the ground and walked closer to the man. Who was trying to get up but could not bring himself to do it.

"It would seem you made me underestimate your skill."The man said as he got off his hands and looked up at Harry. Harry could even see the dark brown eyes within the helmet.

"Call it what you want. You hurt someone I cared for. A fatal mistake. Any last words?" Harry asked as he rose the sword above his head. The man looked him in the eyes but still didn't bother to take off his helmet.

"Long live the emperor." the man said.

"A poor choice. I can guarantee he won't live as long as he would wish." Harry said as he brought the sword down hard killing the man almost instantly. He left the sword in him and walked away back to Gestan who was laying on the ground with the last four men dead next to him. He jogged over to the man to see him staring at the sky with glassy eyes. Harry sighed.

"Sorry man. I hope you find the peace that eludes men in life, in death." Harry said as he closed the man's eyes and sent a silent prayer for him to whatever god maybe listening. He sat down by the man and took a breather.

 _Calanthe's POV:_

Calanthe stood in the tallest tower of her castle and looked out over her burning kingdom. She heard the screams of terror from down below as well as the loud banging coming from the barricaded door behind her as the Nilfgaardians tried to break through and capture her to do god knows what with. They would never take her though, SHE would not be taken prisoner to be either kept as leverage or worse. She looked down at the drop.

"You sure you want to do that Calanthe?" a voice asked behind her. She looked back swiftly but did not turn her body for fear of accidently slipping. She saw a man with hair as black as night and eyes that shone like emeralds. It had been more years then she could accurately say but she would never forget that face.

"Apollo? Or do you prefer the Black Mage?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Harry actually. I once cured you of a deadly ailment Calanthe, it was one of my prouder moments. Are you set on this path?" Harry asked her seriously.

"That depends, are you here to give me back my kingdom and beat back the Nilfgaardians?" she asked. Harry shook his head.

"I am not...but I could take you away from here. You could stay hidden with no one the wiser. Just say the words and we will leave." Harry told her. Calanthe looked back over her kingdom and felt a tear slowly make its way down her cheek.

"I was born the queen of Cintra. I wish to die as one as well." Calanthe finally said. Harry said nothing in response for a moment back to her.

"...If that is truly your wish, I will respect it." Harry said.

"Wait, I have a granddaughter, she is making her way to Yaru-"

"Do not worry, I have already made sure that she got across safely before coming here. I can not say the same for Gestan. The man died making sure she had time to escape. A true knight." Harry said. Calanthe breathed a sigh of relief in hearing that her granddaughter was safe.

"Thank you. It seems you have a habit of helping my family." she commented.

"More than you could possibly know." Harry told her. She nodded but didn't ask him to elaborate.

"I don't suppose you know anything about death?" she asked almost rhetorically as she once more walked to the very edge.

"I'd like to think so considering I have died once before." Harry told her. She raised an eyebrow but did not turn around.

"And?" she asked

"...It's quicker and easier than falling asleep." he replied. She smiled.

"Good." with that she stepped off.


	7. Chapter 7

_1264, Deep Mountain Pass Close to Kaer Morhen_

 _Triss's POV:_

Triss covered her eyes to shield from the heavy snow onslaught she was wading through. She couldn't be quite sure, but she was pretty the storm was getting even worse. She didn't ponder it long though as she was currently focusing on keeping herself just warm enough not to freeze to death and shield herself with magic as much as possible. Sadly, even her magic had limits and she was pretty sure she was closing on to it's limits.

"Blast it all." she murmured to herself, she had been so close and thought she would make it before the storm hit. She had either timed it poorly or the storm had sped up. Either way, she was now stuck in it. She patted her mind-numbed horse on the side and urged it to keep moving forward, which it did albeit at an extremely slow rate. However, just as quickly as the blizzard had come, it was gone.

Triss looked around in confusion. The storm was still raging around her yet there seemed to be some sort of dome she had entered that was keeping it at bay. She knew the spell that did this though she wouldn't have been able to hold it for too long and thus would not have been able to make it all the way to Kaer Morhen. She looked around to search for the sorcerer/ess who put the dome up and looked back down from the dome's roof to the ground. Where that had once been snow covered path, there now sat a man next to a fireplace which she was positive had not been there before she looked up. Nonetheless, she approached the man.

If she were to be honest with herself, the first thing she noticed about him was that the man looked like the complete opposite of Geralt. Where Geralt had tough looking and more of a roguish look to him, this man had softer and more boyish features. Where Geralt was built with muscle in every place that could have muscle, this man seemed to be much skinnier, though a closer look revealed him to have a more lean muscle type. The hair was probably the most obvious difference though. Geralt had shoulder length ashen hair were this man had short hair that was blacker than any hair she had ever seen on anyone save for perhaps Yennefer. After she had finished observing him, she decided to walk up to him.

"Hello stranger. Never thought I'd find another mage this far in the mountains. May I ask what you're doing this far North?" Triss tried to ask politely. There was nothing up here besides Kaer Morhen and she wondered if this man had been summoned to "check on" Vesemir as well. The black haired, young, man looked up from the fire and smiled charmingly at her. Something almost familiar in his smile.

"Hello to you as well. Oh I just was in the neighborhood when I saw you slugging your way up this mountain through the storm. I thought I would give you a little rest stop before you keeled over. Triss Merigold, am I correct?" The man asked. Triss's eyebrow twitched at his explanation and she was instantly suspicious of the man. While the man sounded honest, there was no way a mage just happened to be up here for no reason. Could he be some sort of spy or an assassin?

"You're giving me the 'Is he a spy?' look. God, you wouldn't believe how many times I have received that looked. That's why I like common folk. You tell them that you're doing something nice for them and they usually believe you. Do that with a noble or mage and they immediately assume you either want something or are planning to kill them. What a terrible way to live one's life." The man said in amusement as he pulled out an ornate looking bottle and two cups from a snow pile next to him. She realized the bottle was a wine.

"That's because they are not educated enough to realize when they are being taken advantage of." Triss commented though she decided to sit down figuring the man didn't actually mean her harm, hopefully.

"Can't argue with that in the slightest. Their ignorance tends to be a double edged sword. They tend to not be so distrusting of the world around them giving them an innocent almost sweet demeanor. Yet, I know first hand the blackness that hides in their souls. I know how easily they can turn from farmers and merchants to a crowd cheering at watching a fellow sentient being lit on fire for no other crime than being different. Truly disgusting." The man said. While his topic got darker, his expression and tone did not change in the slightest. While he talked, he poured her a glass of what looked like red wine. When it was close to a quarter full, he stopped and handed it to her. She took it but did not drink any yet. She wanted to see him drink it first.

"Yes well, they are simply products of their environment. They only know how to be what they were raised as." Triss said in a slightly defensive voice. She knew the common people weren't all great and could actually be downright despicable but how could you expect someone to be better if you didn't give them the tools to be?

"That excuse can only go so far in my book. I don't expect it takes much to realize that killing innocents is wrong. But enough about that, let's talk about you. How have you been Triss?" The man asked as he sipped the wine. Triss looked at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry, I don't recall us meeting before." she said as she finally drank some of the wine. It was actually very delicious. It was a Beauclair clearly.

"You don't? Oh well, perhaps I should have expected that, you had been very disoriented at the time and had just had an extremely traumatic experience. Plus I had left soon after as well." The man said almost seeming to talk to himself.

"I...don't think I follow." Triss said with some confusion as she looked closer at the man. He did sort of look familiar but she could not for the life of her say why.

"Hmm. Maybe this will help. When we first met, you didn't look like this. You didn't have hair. Barely had much skin stuck to your body either. You were covered in more burns and cuts than I had ever seen on another living person. Luckily they were all fresh. I had to take stem cells from your femur, replicate them extraordinarily quickly, and then reintegrate them into your body. It was one of the hardest medical performances of my life. I think you could legally be declared dead, what was it, four times? Dreadful. I kept shouting at you embarrassing things like, 'I'm not going to lose you!' and 'Come on woman, just breathe!'. Got a lot of strange looks." The man finished as he then drank the rest of his wine in one gulp before refilling his cup. Triss could do nothing but gape at the man in pure shock.

"You were the one who healed me?" She yelled in shock as she stood up and spilled her wine. The man looked up at her in surprise.

"Woah calm down. Man, you spilled the wine. That cost me quite a pretty coin you know. Oh nevermind. Sit down and I'll pour you another glass." the man said. Triss calmed herself as she sat down and picked up her fallen cup. "Now, to answer your question, yes I was the one who healed you. Took five days of my absolute attention to do it too."

"I remember the villagers told me they had no idea how I had survived. They claimed the Black Mage had come to save me. Though others seemed to think it had been some sort of forest spirit that had nursed me back to health." Triss said quietly.

"Well I guess some of them were right and some of them were wrong. I have been known by the title the Black Mage or Apollo to some." the man said. Triss looked appraisingly at the man in a new light. The legendary Black Mage in the flesh. She could count the Mages on one hand who have claimed to have seen him with any credence.

"So it's true. I heard you had come to Sodden after the battle and started healing many of the wounded." Triss said though she had dismissed it at the time.

"Indeed. I healed who I could and then headed out. Speaking of which, I see you have healed quite well. If you don't mind me asking, did the scar on your upper stomach ever heal?" The man asked. Triss looked down for moment in sadness.

"No. It's still there." she said a little quieter.

"Ah...I'm sorry to hear that. It had cut extremely deeply into you and I also had to heal the intestines, stomach, and liver at almost the same time. I don't know what you were hit with but it had been terrible." The man said clearly reminiscing.

"Doesn't matter now. Regardless of the scar I am thankful for what you did for me that day...or days I suppose. If there's anyway I could ever repay you please don't hesitate to ask." Triss said to the man with her head slightly bowed. He just waved her off though.

"Think nothing of it. I also don't charge people for healing. Don't feel the need to try to get even. You don't owe me a thing." The man said as he stood. Triss looked at him in surprise.

"Are you leaving already?" she asked. She had hoped to talk with her savior a bit more.

"Yes well, as I said, I only came down to give you a bit of a rest stop from the storm before reaching Kaer Morhen. If you take up your previous rate, you shall reach it in 45 minutes." The man, she was just going to call him Apollo, said.

"Wait, I didn't say I was going to Kaer Morhen." Triss said. Apollo just looked at her as if she was a simpleton.

"There is, literally, nothing else except forests and mountains in the direction you're going. Where else would you go in this blizzard?" Apollo asked with amusement. Triss felt her cheeks grow slightly warm at that.

"Ah." is all she replied. He just smiled at her.

"Have a safe trip Triss. Tell Geralt that Harry sends his regards." Apollo, or possibly Harry, said as he walked away and gave a backwards wave over his shoulder.

"Thank you and I will." she said as she watched him disappear outside the door and disappear in a sheet of white. As she saw him disappear, it had just occurred to her that the man was wearing nothing but a black top and dark trousers. What's more was he didn't put up a shield against the cold when leaving. Interesting.

 _1264,_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry stood back and watched as Geralt slaughtered three men and chased after the man named Rience. When, Harry had first talked with Ciri, she had not liked to talk about herself much. She preferred to talk about the people around her instead especially about the people she cared for. Of course, over the months, she had finally given up more and more of her life to him. Despite that, there were things that Ciri had simply not known about in the world around her. For example, she had told him how Nilfgaard wanted her but hadn't said why. He had no doubt she knew but he got the feeling the topic was not one she liked so he hadn't pressed her. He had no doubt that she didn't know about Rience though. She did not have the spying skills Harry had developed specifically to find out what Nilfgaard was up too. At this point, Harry probably knew more about this world then Ciri had. He had been in it longer than even his own world.

Harry stopped that thought process though. He seemed to be going on a tangent. He actually seemed to do that quite often now. He wondered if it was a product of his old age? He looked down from the rooftop he was casually sitting on and watched to see if Geralt would kill the man. It certainly looked like he was giving it his all. Sadly for him, a portal opened behind Rience which the man was making his way towards. Harry watched as Geralt was thrown off his feet as power exploded from the portal. Harry was actually impressed at the amount. Whoever was behind that portal was probably one of the most powerful mages he had ever witnessed on this world. He wondered how the man or woman would stack up to him. He didn't think about it for long though as it would seem he needed to intervene. He stood and launched a banishing charm at Reince that caught the man midair as he tried to jump through the portal and back to his master. Reince went flying to the side while Harry cast a dispelling charm at the portal causing it to disappear completely. At this point, Geralt got back up on his feet and looked at the downed Reince. He didn't even stop to think for a moment as he charged the man with his sword. Harry's eyes widened.

"No, Geralt. Wait!" Harry yelled but it was too late. The Witcher was too fast to be able to be hit by a spell like Reince had to stop him. Geralt brought the sword down on the now terrified man's head and cut it clean off freezing the terrified expression on the man's face. Harry just threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Welp, guess we no longer have a lead on the mystery mage that was this man's benefactor. No worries. I can just pop over to Nilfgaard and ask Emhyr var Emreis who his secretive mystery mage is. Oh wait a minute, no I can't do that!" Harry yelled out loud in frustration. Geralt sheathed his sword and looked at him.

"Harry? What are you doing here?" Geralt asked with crossed arms.

"Well I was trying to capture that man so I could find out who his mentor was so I could hunt them down and kill them but it seems that plan has gone tits up." Harry said as he gave a light kick at the now beheaded Reince.

"Sorry then but it was personal." Geralt said as he looked down darkly at the corpse. Harry sighed.

"It's...it's fine I suppose. I'll just have to find out another way to find the mage. Plus, how can I blame a father for protecting his little girl." Harry said lightly. Geralt looked sharply at him expectedly.

"Calm yourself man. I mean your daughter no harm." Harry said before Geralt could reach for his sword, "Let's go get a drink, it's been awhile and I think we should catch up." Harry said as he gestured towards the town. Geralt looked at him for a second.

"Fine, but you owe me some answers." Geralt said with an air of finality. Harry nodded in agreement. They walked a ways but met up with Dandelion and a redhead medic by the name of Shani.

"Dandelion this Harry. Harry, Dandelion. And this is Shani." Geralt said as he gestured to them both.

"Hello, errrr is it done Geralt." Dandelion asked as he noticed the fresh blood still on Geralt. Geralt nodded grimly. Harry looked at Geralt.

"Here, let me get that for you." Harry said as he waved his hand and the blood disappeared from the man's armor and clothes.

"Thanks." Geralt said appreciatively. Harry nodded. Geralt looked back at Dandelion and Shani, "We're going to an inn for some drinks and rest. You coming?"

"I unfortunately must return to the academy." Shani said looking a little unwell. Harry had a feeling it had to do with the bloodbath she had just witnessed earlier.

"I will join you." Dandelion said. They said farewell to Shani and headed to the nearest inn for some drink. It didn't take them long to find one and get a table. They quickly ordered some drinks.

"So tell me…" Geralt started but Harry shushed him. He looked around the bar to signal to Geralt that people might be listening. He cast some privacy charms as well as alarm charms to know if a mage dispelled them.

"Ok, now we can talk. Had to make sure no one could listen in on our conversation." Harry said as he took a sip of his drink.

"Fine, how do you know about Ciri?" Geralt asked getting straight to the point. Harry rubbed his chin.

"I was under the impression that you read my journal while Yennefer had it, did you not?" Harry asked the man.

"I did, we tried to track you with no luck. Even went back to the cave where we first met to try and find you with no scent or trail to follow." Geralt said. Harry nodded at that then turned extremely serious.

"I can't tell you everything but I can tell you something's. You may never repeat them to a living soul unless I give you permission Geralt. Is that clear? You as well Dandelion, if you plan to stay. Not a single tale or ballad. Clear?" Harry asked, Both men nodded though Dandelion looked put out at the reprimand he had received.

"Hmm. The girl I talked about in my journal is Ciri. I have been waiting for her for about a century now. Ever since I first came to this world." Harry said. Geralt's eyes squinted in suspicion where as Dandelion looked shocked.

"Other world? You're from another world?" Dandelion asked. Harry nodded.

"I don't have time to get into the specifics of it. Ask Geralt after." Harry said.'

"I don't get it. If you came from a different world, how did you know of Ciri and how did you get to this world?" Geralt asked.

"I know about Ciri because I met her before. We we're good friends. She came to my world. I can't tell you why or how. She left after around six months. I actually didn't mean to come to this world. It was pure luck….well not really luck but more of situations outside my control. When I realized what world I had entered I decided I would wait around for Ciri. Unfortunately I can't meet her or talk to her until she meets me originally first. This leaves me in an annoying predicament of trying to subtly change the world around her to be more...friendly? Without really changing much to the point where she no longer meets me. This puts me here with you know and god does it feel good to finally tell someone what is going on in my life!" Harry finally said with a smile and took a big chug of his drink now that the weight off his shoulders was gone.

"I...probably shouldn't have told you all of that now that I think about it." Harry said as he looked at their stunned faces, or at least Geralt's version of a stunned face.

"So….you know Ciri because she somehow ends up in your world for some time?" Geralt asked.

"Well, yes." Harry confirmed.

"And then you accidently came to ours but a long time before Ciri was born?" Geralt continued.

"Right." Harry said.

"Now you can't let Ciri know you exist until she meets you some time in the future?" Geralt asked.

"Also correct." Harry said.

"Hmmm." Geralt said while looking at him. Dandelion seemed to be doing a fish impression in silence.

"You don't believe me?" Harry asked.

"I do. You've never lied to me. Though granted we have only met a few times. I feel you're leaving something out though. Seems to me like you're going through a lot of work for a girl you were with for 6 months is all." Geralt said as he looked pointedly at Harry.

"Ciri….Ciri was something special. She was not only a friend to me when I needed one most, she helped me get through one of the most difficult points of my life. Despite not being in my life too long, she played a significant role in helping to develop the man you see sitting before you. Were it not for her...hmm, I'd rather not think about it actually. The point is, she was someone who I considered very important." Harry finished.

"I see. So just friends then?" Geralt asked. Harry rolled his eyes at the man.

"We were close. If you're asking if I was in love with her then I can't answer. I have never experienced a romantic love that I could safely identify. I'm not sure if what I feel for Ciri is actually love nor am I going to to say that I plan to become her suitor. I can say that in the months that I was with her, Ciri was closer to me than any other person on the planet and I would have done anything for her." Harry said. He purposefully left out the part where she had kissed him because that would have ended….well badly.

"Hmmm. If I find out you're taking advantage of her, dragon or not, you'll end up like Rience. You know that right?" Geralt said. Harry nodded.

"It would be kind of pointless considering all the work I have put into making sure that she will be happy and have a long life." Harry said.

"Regardless, the threat remains." Geralt said. Harry nodded.

"With that cleared up, I suppose I should leave."Harry said though he made no move to get up.

"Where will you go now?" Geralt asked. Harry smiled.

"Oh don't worry about that. For now, you both look tired. Why not take a nap?" Harry said while silently casting a strong sleeping charm on both of them. Geralt looked surprised for a moment and seemed to try and fight the charm but had no success with it. He quickly slumped over on the table and didn't move.

"I'm sorry Geralt, I trust you not to reveal my secrets but that won't stop a mage from picking through your mind and discovering it by chance. Especially your dear Yennefer. I thank you for giving me someone to talk to though as the stress recently has been quite the hindrance. I promise to give you your memory back when this is all over. Still, perhaps a gift to apologize with." Harry said as he took out Geralt's sword and imbued magic into them both.

"There, that should help next time you need an edge on cutting someone up." Harry said as he put the swords back and started the removal of the memories and planting false ones in both of the men's heads. He withdrew from their minds and looked at them with a bit of sadness. He took a last gulp of his ale and silently apparated away, leaving the men to be found by the innkeeper as he simultaneously tore down his privacy charms.

 _1264, Thanedd_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry flew threw the air quickly. He couldn't remember the last time he had flown this fast as a dragon but now, he was on a time limit. He had just returned from Nazir where he finally decided to see if anything could be done about Emhyr var Emreis. He had even thought about killing the man. However, meeting the man in person had changed all that. Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard was also Ciri's father. Harry did not know how the man lived through the storm all those years ago. Even Harry was forced to leave when following him and his late wife to possibly do something to help them only to be stopped by the very forces of nature. Even in dragon form, he could not stop the storm from tossing him around like a doll. It mattered little how the man survived, all that mattered was that the sick fuck wanted to marry Ciri and had a powerful sorcerer named Vilgefortz in charge of getting her to him. This Vilgefortz character was planning to take out the the Chapter of Sorcerers of the Northern Kingdoms in one night during a little get together. A get together that he happened to know that Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri were attending.

Harry had been so stupid, how could he have forgotten about the goddamn coup. Normally he wouldn't have been too worried, this was expected and he knew no one died or got to badly banged up from this. At least no one who mattered to him. Unfortunately, he also found out that the the hunter named Rience was this man's apprentice. There was no way to tell how Vilgefortz would react without the aid of his assistant. Of course, everything could still work out fine, but he wouldn't wish to test fate.

Harry didn't have to fly long before he picked up a familiar scent, the scent of a man he had left just a few weeks previous. He tilted his head down and saw a grey tower standing near a road. With his superior eyesight, he could clearly see two forms that seemed to be clashing. He quickly realized this was Geralt and swooped down. He shifted from his dragon form to his human one and quickly descended through the air. When getting close to the ground, he cast a featherweight charm on himself causing him to drift lightly towards the ground he landed without even a thump and looked around. A 100 yards away, the mage had Geralt on the floor while his staff seemed to glow. What was worse, he could feel Ciri's magic in that tower right now. If Harry remembered correctly, she would go through the portal and into a desert. He hoped that she would still remain ok as she had previously. Right now though, he had to worry about Geralt. Harry whipped out the Elder wand as he had a feeling he would need it for this battle. He ran quickly at the man

" _Confrigo Maxima!"_ Harry said and watched the large blue wave approach the man. Vilgefortz swiftly turned and used his staff to swipe at the curse and blasting it apart before it reached him.

"Hmmm. Well, well, well what do we have here? A mage with quite a bit of power to him, though I don't think we have met." Vilgefortz said with a smile to him. Harry sneered. Harry had to be careful, in combat, his specialty had always been taking out large groups of people or mages with uncontrollable spells that were almost impossible to spell. That's why _Fiendfyre_ was a personal favorite of his. Most people besides him couldn't counter it. Sadly, he could use none of his usual overwhelming spells because Geralt was currently passed out close by.

"Don't worry we won't be acquainted very long. I guarantee it." Harry said menacingly as he jumped into action, " _Locomotor Mortis, Vox Inrita, Petrificus Totalus, Expulso!_ " Harry said as he launched a chain of spells at the man .Vilgefortz used his staff and twirled it with clear expertise as he swatted the spells out of the air. Harry smirked as he expected the man to do this which is why the last spell was an _Expulso_. As Vilgefortz hit that spell, it exploded in a ball of flames and covered the man. Unfortunately, he called out something ineligible and the flames disappeared though Vilgefortz did look annoyed.

"You will regret that." Vilgefortz spat out at him.

"Probably not to be honest." Harry shot back as he dodged an arc of lightning that sailed right past him.

"Maybe you should stick to stick-fighting mate." Harry said to the man. That seemed to make Vilgefortz angrier. He chanted something else in elder speech and suddenly a portal appeared. Harry tensed thinking he was calling for reinforcements. He was only partially correct. A giant golem appeared out of the portal. Harry had seen golems since arriving here but he had never seen one that was this big before.

"Oh cock." Harry said to himself as the large creature lumbered towards him. Now it was Vilgefortz who was pushing on the offensive. He now had to deal with both a close range and a long range attacker.

" _Bombardo!_ " Harry yelled and watched as the spell smashed into the stone creature. The creature took some damage but it was still on it's feet and trying to kill him. Luckily, however, Harry could use the big walking stone slab as a shield from Vilgefortz's onslaught as well since it was between the two of them. Harry thought for a minute on how to quickly dispatch the golem when his eyes traced the glowing runes on its body and a thought came to him.

" _omnia perturbare!"_ Harry said as a green spell erupted from his wand and smashed into the golem. The effect was almost immediate. The golem seemed to take no physical damage but the glowing green runic arrays all over its body seemed to flicker until they went out completely. The golem went out with them as it no longer had magic holding it together and simply crumbled to the floor.

"Impressive." Vilgefortz commented with a smile returning to his face.

"I aim to please." Harry replied as he jumped into action.

" _flammis acribus"_ He shot out as he moved forward at the man, pressing his advantage. The fire did not hit Vilgefortz but the ground right next to his feet. Vilgefortz tried to put out the extremely hot fire quickly which Harry took advantage of.

" _maledictus glacies!"_ Harry said .A crystal blue spell came out of his wand and hit the arm of Vilgefortz while he tried to put out the fire. Vilgefortz screamed in pain and for good reason too, Harry had hit him with the spell of cursed ice. A spell known to encase its victims in a thick layer of ice that was held together with dark magic making it hard to combat on a normal day. If it hit you, you were most likely dead in 30 seconds which explained why Harry was so surprised when Vilgefortz wasn't. The man seemed to recognize what the spell did almost immediately, despite the fact that he had never seen it before. Not knowing how to stop the spell that had been creeping up his arm to encase his whole body, he simply severed his whole arm completely with a spell. Harry almost grimaced yet couldn't help at being impressed with the man's quick thinking. Vilgefortz's, now missing an arm, fell down to one knee from the pain.

"It looks like this was my win. Shame we both couldn't go all out. I should have very much liked to know what some of your more...destructive spells were. To bad you couldn't afford to accidentally destroy the tower." Harry taunted the man. No matter what, Vilgefortz had lost a great deal with his arm, he would not be able to grow another for certain even with Harry's terrific healing skills. The loss of his arm also gave him a major hit to his spell repertoire since so many powerful spells required two hands to perform here. Not that any of that mattered, Harry wasn't letting him walk away from today. Ciri had told him that he would one day torture Yennefer for information and Harry wouldn't allow that. Vilgefortz looked up at him with a smile.

"You think you have won stranger? I may be disarmed, quite literally, but I am not so stupid to believe myself infallible. I ALWAYS plan for everything." Vilgefortz said with a knowing smirk as he looked at him. Harry looked at the man closely with confusion and ready for any of his tricks. It took only a moment to realize that Vilgefortz was not looking at him but….behind him?

'Oh SHITE!' Harry thought as he made to turn around but he was too late. The next thing he knew, something hit him on the back of the head, HARD! His world delved into an inky blackness.

" _Take him to the hidden lab at Stygga! I am most curious to find out this man's secrets. Before he dies that is."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Im back from my long break. Sorry for the wait but i did legititmately get extremely busy around mid march which forced me to take a break from fanfiction. Now im back though and hopefully be able to keep a more constant stream of chapters going out. I am back at school and also have a job though so don't expect updates as fast as they used to be. Sorry. With that, here is the latest chapter.**

Harry woke up groggily. He blinked a few times before his eyes were able to focus in on the room around him. He seemed to be in some sort of lab. He had seen labs that the sorcerers of this world used before but not this particular one. It looked like it was under ground or possibly in catacombs. The walls were made of stone partially but he could see some areas where it was just packed dirt. Judging by the underground smell, he was somewhere deep too. Across the laboratory, he could see a small staircase that led to a wooden door which seemed to be the only exit. He looked down at his body and saw himself covered in chains that looked to be silver with a small bronze tint to it. They wrapped around all his ligaments and his torso with his arms being held up and chained to the wall.

Harry growled softly at seeing the Dimeritium chains on his body. Vilgefortz seemed to have gone over the top to make sure he didn't escape and he had done a damn good job. Harry knew from experimentation that Dimeritium could stop him from turning into a dragon if in large enough amounts. He had dismissed it though as he doubted any sorcerer would ever think to use so much. Vilgefortz must have been convinced by the power he had shown him in their battle. Harry cursed himself for letting his arrogance blind him enough to let his guard down enough for someone to sneak up on him. It's not like he thought Vilgefortz could kill him but Harry knew better than anyone that there were things out there worse than death.

Harry heard a metallic clank and he looked to the door to see the man of the hour enter. He stopped and made sure not to smirk when he could see that Vilgefortz was still missing an arm from their battle.

"How are you liking your new accommodations?" Vilgefortz asked with a smile that Harry would almost mistake as pleasant if he was a lesser man. He said nothing to rise to the man's bait though. He simply stayed silent as he looked over at the man.

"You would never believe that it's already been seven months since we fought, would you?" Vilgefortz said. That did catch Harry's attention. Seven months? How the hell had it already been seven months!

"I can see the shock in your eyes even if your face doesn't show it. It was quite strange. I tried very hard to kill you yet nothing I did seemed to work. At first, I tried to suck your life force out and use it to empower myself but after weeks of struggling, I could not force it to leave your body. Then, in anger, I tried to cut off your head, only for it to reattach itself before my blade had even fully gone through it. Over and over yet nothing seemed to work. It was then I concluded that you did indeed learn the secrets of immortality. I think you can see where I am going with this?" Vilgefortz asked. Harry heard him but could only think about how he was going to have to make sure he killed the man now.

"I suppose this is where you ask me how to gain such an ability?" Harry asked as he looked at the man with amusement.

"And I suppose your amused response means you won't tell me, which I'm sure you know means that I will have to find out the fun way." Vilgefortz said as he stepped back before walking over to a table. He picked up a rolled cloth and brought it over to him. He unrolled it to reveal a multitude of sharp objects. As a healer, Harry knew the use of almost every one of them. He raised an eyebrow.

"You really think your actually going to find something don't you? You're a fool if you didn't think I made sure that no one would be able to find out my secrets." Harry told him before he zoned out. He knew how to deal with torture. With his skill in Occlumency he was able to retreat deep into his mind and pretty much ignore any physical damage his body sustained. He could still feel it but he could definitely more easily ignore it.

It wasn't long before he felt the chains on his body moving. Vilgefortz seemed smart enough to know not to take any of them off. He did however shift the ones on his torso. A moment later and Harry felt something sharp go through his skin. Vilgefortz had just stabbed into him with a scalpel and was trying to open up his chest cavity. His body naturally healed but anything that wasn't immediately life threatening like getting stabbed in the heart or getting his head chopped off would take longer. It was annoyingly convenient for Vilgefortz.

"Not even a peep. Your mental fortitude is even more impressive than I thought it would be." Vilgefortz said with a smirk. Harry said nothing in response. He knew it would just encourage the man. He wasn't sure but he thought he saw a gleam of what seemed like insanity in his eyes as he cut into him.

Vilgefortz waited for him to heal then repeated the act multiple times. There was probably enough blood on the ground to create and fill a small pool. Harry had continued to say nothing. He could feel his pain receptors trying to tell his brain that he was in pain but he simply ignored it and pressed on.

"Hmmm. It would seem that the cuts always heal but the deadlier it is, the more quickly it heals. How fascinating. How does the body know what to prioritize? Further research is needed." Vilgefortz said out loud as he started writing in a journal of some kind. He continued his little experiment for what felt like hours before finally stopping.

"Well, I think that's enough for today, we shall continue on the morrow. See you then my little prisoner." Vilgefortz said with a grin before sweeping out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, all the torches and candles in the room were snuffed out. Harry frowned as his eyes got use to the complete lack of light.

' _Well Harry. How are you going to get yourself out of this one?'_

As it turned out, Harry couldn't get himself out of his current situation. Vilgefortz was much more careful than he had predicted. He constantly made sure to have Harry checked in on and seemed to not rise to any bait Harry threw at him in order to get him to slip up. Harry had no idea how long he had been in this prison but he knew it must have been a long time. It had taken awhile but enough verbal slips had given him the idea that he was under some sort of castle.

One day, he had also found out that he was not the only prisoner in said castle though he was the most hidden. He had heard a woman distantly screaming from what was most likely torture. Vilgefortz had talked about her and mentioned how he had caught a little raven and was trying to get it to speak on certain manners. Harry had said nothing in response and the man didn't seem to be waiting for on one either. Vilgefortz had just pulled out some tools before continuing on with his sick little experiments.

That's what Harry's life was like for longer than he could keep count. He couldn't even accurately say how much time had passed and it was starting to concern him. Sorcerers lived a very long time compared to humans and he only had a couple years left until he met Ciri. He didn't know how long he had been down here but he needed to really start thinking of a way to leave. The chains made it difficult for sure though. If only there wasn't so many of them as well. His first thought was continuously trying to rip the chains out of the wall to free his hands and arms. Sadly that had not worked. He had tried for what he assumed had been weeks with not even a loosening. The next thing he tried was somehow overpowering his magical restraints. That hadn't worked either.

Harry was just thinking of what his next attempt could be before Vilgefortz entered the room. For once, the sorcerer didn't look to be smiling or have an arrogance plastered all over his face. Instead, he seemed to be scowling deeply as he rushed around the room but had yet to approach or even look at Harry. He watched as Vilgefortz started burning papers and research that he knew had at least partially been about him. He then rushed back to the door where he finally looked back at Harry causing his scowl to deepen. Harry just raised a questioning eyebrow before he shut the door completely and locked it. After he did so, the door glowed a translucent green before disappearing. Harry assumed it was a protection of some kind on the door. That, combined with the fact that the man had just burned many precious hours of his research, led Harry to believing that someone or something was here that Vilgefortz wanted to make sure wouldn't find his notes no matter what.

It didn't take long for his suspicions to be confirmed as he heard the sounds of very distant fighting going on. They must have been here for one of the prisoners…or just to kill the sick fuck. He almost felt conflicted. On one hand, if they killed Vilgefortz then there was a greater chance of him leaving here soon, but if they did kill him then Harry wouldn't be able to do it himself. What a weird position for him to be in.

The sounds of fighting lasted for a good long while before stopping. He waited and strained to hear if anyone would come down near his cell. He knew Vilgefortz had made sure no one outside the room would be able to hear him so he didn't even bother yelling to get their attention. He just waited and hoped they would come investigate. After waiting for what felt like hours, he was forced to conclude that either Vilgefortz was triumphant or the intruders had got what they came for and not bothered to investigate near where he was. It was also possible that Vilgefortz had hidden any entrance that could lead to this room. That's what Harry would have done if he were honest.

After what felt like days, Harry concluded that Vilgefortz was killed. He only had one arm after all thanks to Harry which was extremely bad for a sorcerer of his caliber no matter how powerful. Concluding this, he once again tried to escape his confines. He tried for what he assumed was days before giving up. He bowed his head in frustration. He could not afford to wait for someone to come and rescue him, he needed to escape NOW!

Harry was so deep in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice the magic slowly gathering near him, almost. He turned his head up to the roof of his cell and vaguely felt magic gathering quite high above his head. He wondered if a particularly powerful mage had come to investigate only for the power to keep on increasing. His eyes started to widen as he felt the magical build up. Even fully suppressed, there was no way he would not be able to notice it. He kept feeling it, whoever was doing this would have to at least be his equal in power with the huge amounts he was feeling. Just as he felt it hit a boiling point, he felt it stop then come crashing down. First there was silence, then the noise came like a thousand roars at once. Finally, the shaking started. Harry had been alive for a long time but he had never felt the ground move and shake as much as it was doing right now. The room itself was collapsing around him and he felt frightened for the first time that he was about to spend the rest of his immortal life buried in the ground. Eventually the shaking stopped though it wasn't much help, Harry was buried completely. He could barely move as most of his body had been completely crushed and he needed to wait for it to heal.

While he healed, Harry just laid his head down to rest. It was so quiet yet also peaceful in a way. He could feel the many life forms around the castle and felt them move around in a panic from the magical blast that had just been set off. He could feel three sorceresses in the distance as they opened their portals to leave. At least that answered what had caused the magical blast. He could feel…How could he feel? His magical senses were completely dampened by the…

Harry looked down at his body. The Dimeritium chains that had been holding him for so long were mostly broken and scattered around his body. Most only laid loosely on him…He was free.

He smirked

Harry staggered into an inn quite loudly. He didn't quite know where he was, all he knew was that he was starving. He plopped down on a bench and waited for the wench to come take his order which didn't take long.

"What can I get for you lad?" She asked kindly.

"Everything. Make it quick too." Harry said. He plopped down a bag of coin he had acquired onto the table which was heavy with coin. The wench's eyes widened before she bowed her head in understanding and quickly left.

Soon, Harry was eating an entire tables worth of food by himself with no clear signs of stopping. Just because hunger could not kill him doesn't mean it wasn't something he wished to avoid deeply. He noticed that almost everyone in the inn was looking at him in either horror or fascination for how much food he was consuming. He couldn't bring himself to care about the attention he was getting though. He was just so hungry. The wench kept bringing him food and eventually he was full enough to think about something besides his hunger.

He ate slower as he thought of his next move. The first thing he had done when he got out of the ground was figure out how long he had been there. He was relieved to find it wasn't as long as he had thought. The next was figure out what had happened at Stygga Castle which he had finally found the name of. He had done this by summoning the spirit of Vilgefortz which also confirmed the man was dead. Harry gleefully made him recount his death over and over before allowing him back into the land of the dead. That was really the only true revenge he could get on the man now that he was no longer in the realm of the living which frustrated Harry. His death was too easy. He wanted to fight him and tear him apart between his dragon claws slowly before roasting him alive. Sadly, Geralt had beaten him to the punch.

The next thing to do would be planning how to kill Emhyr for unknowingly causing him this setback. If the asshole wasn't so focused on fucking his own daughter then none of this would have ever happened. He would need to talk to Geralt first. Sadly, he knew that Ciri was with him and Yennefer at the moment which meant that he would need to get the Witcher alone. He also had the problem of finding him but he knew they would most likely be back in the Northern Kingdoms by now.

He finally finished the giant pile of food that the cook had made for him and laid down more coin for the wench to take. He was pretty sure he just gave them the equivalents of a month of food pay but he didn't care. It was the first time he had eaten in who knows how long. He was still being looked at by the other patrons of this establishment. They were all part of the Nilfgaardian Empire, as Harry was still in Ebbing, so they seemed to dress a little nicer than peasants of the Northern Kingdoms. Not much of a surprise. He stood up from his table and walked out feeling a lot more satisfied than when he had come in. Now, all that was left to do was go and vent some steam. He had seen a small Nilfgaardian outpost nearby that looked ripe for burning. He supposed he could go there.

Harry stood outside Rivia in a small forest as he watched his favorite Witcher as he tracked something through the forest. The tracks were fake of course, Harry had planted them to lure him away from prying eyes. Geralt thought he was tracking a Basilisk. When he finally got deep enough into the forest, Harry approached him.

"Hello Geralt, it's been awhile." Harry said as he appeared a few yards behind the man. Geralt smoothly turned around but didn't seem too surprised.

"And where the hell have you been? Haven't seen you since that night on Thanedd." Geralt questioned in his usual gruff manner. Harry frowned at the memories of that night.

"I didn't know you were awake when I had arrived but yes it has been awhile. That night, I was captured by Vilgefortz, or at least by an accomplice of his. I had foolishly believed I had won over the man and had him right where I wanted him, only to ignore the accomplice sneaking up behind me and knocking me out. Quite the embarrassing bluster to be completely honest." Harry said. Geralt was silent at the admittance but Harry had a feeling he was surprised by the information.

"I was then put into chains of Dimeritium and left in a cell under Stygga Castle where I stayed until it was destroyed by a power magical blast." Harry told him.

"Wait, so you were there when…"

"When you stormed the place? Yes, I was. I had hoped you would find me but it seemed it was not to be." Harry said sadly. Geralt looked slightly apologetic at that.

"I'm sorry, had I known you where there-"

"It's fine. I don't blame you and it was actually better that you left me there. It would have brought certain attention on me that I didn't want, but enough about that. I have come to ask you what has happened while I have been gone as well as after your siege on the castle." Harry said to him. With that, they both sat down across from each other as Geralt began his long tale of what he had missed. Harry listened raptly but ended up breathing a sigh of relief. So far, the events didn't seem too different then what he knew was to happen which was good. With Ciri leaving soon, he could stop messing around in the shadows and start taking an active role in this world's future.

"Hmm. You mentioned the emperor. What was you and your companion's opinion of him at the time?" Harry asked. Geralt looked at him for a moment before continuing on.

"Man was a very serious type. Had a strategic mind. Had a strange notion of mercy though it was still better than some other rulers I have seen." Geralt said. Harry nodded. He knew that Ciri never cared much for her father and he just needed to confirm that Geralt didn't either.

"I see, Geralt, this may seem an odd question but what do you think of the Northern kingdoms and their rulers. Do you like the way they're run or do you think they would benefit from Nilfgaardian rule?" Harry asked. Geralt looked at him suspiciously.

"Harry…" Geralt said warningly. Harry brushed it aside.

"Don't get it in your head that I like Nilgaardians or would ever help their rule. I'm just asking a question is all." Harry said to pacify the man. Geralt stopped and thought before answering again.

"I don't like Nilfgaardain's that much but I can't honestly say I like many of the nobles of the Northern Kingdoms either. Their either idiotic or power hungry, sometimes both. Would the people benefit from Nilfgaardian rule? Eventually, when they learned to accept it. There would be a lot of fighting before that though even if Nilfgaard does manage to overthrow the Northern Kings." Geralt said. Harry nodded.

"I agree. Though Nilfgaard has its own problems I suppose. Too bad there is no such thing as a perfect government… That is all I wanted to ask Geralt. I probably won't be seeing you for some time after this, probably years if I am honest" Harry said to him. Geralt raised an eyebrow.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yes. For now, I am going to the Far North. I have some plans I need to put into action." Harry said.

"Far North? Not much out there except untamed wilderness and wild beast. Not many live out there either except hunters and a few other craftsmen. Too cold for anyone else to really live there." Geralt commented. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I'm aware of what the Far North is, thank you Geralt. I would like you to visit if you get the chance though." Harry told the man kindly.

"You expect me to be able to find you in the Far North. I can't even find you in a settled kingdom." Geralt pointed out. Harry rolled his eyes before reaching in his pocket and pulling out what looked like a bracelet.

"Here. Tap the rune carved in the wood piece and say my name. It will help guide you to me if you ever need me. Don't let anyone else take it or they may not have a hand for long." Harry said as he dropped the item into Geralt's hand. Geralt moved it around for a moment before putting it on.

"I appreciate the gesture." Geralt said as he looked at the gift. Harry nodded.

"Well, I must be off. Plenty to do and very little time to do it." Harry said as he apparated away from the Witcher who just watched in amazement as he left him in that small forest.

Harry stood atop the Dragon Mountains as he stared out into the wilderness of what was known as the Far North. He had been into its depths only twice in his time on this world and both times it was out of curiosity. It was a harsh place to live and that was mainly because of the cold. It snowed all year round and ha much smaller populations of animals and people. Even most monsters refused to live up here in such conditions and lived further south. There were a few things that lived out here though. White dragons were the most famous of course. Many thought of them as a rare sub- species of dragons yet Harry knew the truth. There were more white dragons past these mountains than there were regular dragons in the entire Northern Kingdoms. Especially since no one came up here to hunt them. Sure, they started out with an extremely small population but there was now probably close to fifty of them that called the Far North their home.

Harry inhaled deeply before exhaling a cloud of steam into the air as his hot breath met the cold air. This would be his new home for a while. Ciri was probably leaving any week now and he had no idea when she would return. What he did know was that she was going to need allies. He had tried to do it himself but discovered that even he could not be everywhere at once. He needed back up to not only protect Ciri from the Wild Hunt but also the many empires of the continent who desired her as well as others who wished to gain power through her blood. With that in mind, it was time to get her some allies. Here would be his starting ground. He would start a new kingdom here and use it to strike down all the others who dared try and harm Ciri. He would also use it to keep her creep of a father far away from her. He couldn't just kill him sadly as he was still Ciri's father but he could go against him in other ways, such as challenging his empire that he thought was so impressive.

Harry stopped his thoughts on further plans and instead focused in on his current goals. While he could just go around forcing people under his rule, that would make him a tyrant and that's not a label he wished upon himself. He needed to convince people he had a right to rule. Something beyond sweet talking and magic. Something that looked divine to others.

He slowly started writhing and shaking as he grew bigger and scales started appearing on his skin. A moment later, he was in the form of a giant black dragon. He looked out for a moment before roaring over the lands he just claimed for himself. He roared louder than he ever had before and went even further as to enhance his roar with magic. His roar washed over miles and miles of land and he was pretty sure he probably caused somebody to piss themselves in fright but he didn't care. He waited patiently while his eyes scoured the horizon. A minute later, he heard another roar, this one much quieter but still very similar to his. His draconic eyes quickly zeroed in on where he thought he heard the roar before he raised his wings and started flapping. Soon he was in the air and soaring over the vast forest as quickly as he could. Within half an hour, he was in the area he thought he had heard the roar originate from. His eyes scoured the forest floor in search of any movement or heat signatures big enough to be his target. He had only a moment to sense the oncoming danger from above him. He quickly swerved right in the air just in time to watch a white blur shoot down past him towards the floor before spreading its wings and flapping back into the air. Here it was, a white dragon.

Harry started to circle the creature as it did the same to him. He was impressed by what he saw. The white dragon was only half of his size, yet he could see an intelligence in it that was higher than other dragons except for their golden brethren. It also seemed to suppress its presence to a point both physically and magically. It might be why they were so hard to find. While he was sizing the dragon up, the dragon seemed to be doing the same to him. Harry almost wanted to smirk. It had been such a long time since he had battled another dragon, this is exactly what he needed to vent.

With that last thought, Harry took a sharp turn and powered his way straight into the path of the White Dragon. The White tried to dodge but Harry had already predicted such a move from the creature and turned his body in its new path. He slammed right into its torso causing it to stagger and briefly start to freefall before catching itself. Harry was on it, not giving it any chance to recover. The white dragon was smaller and most likely faster than him which was why he needed to keep it engaged in combat, so it could not fly away. The dragon turned to face Harry only to get a stream of molten hot fire straight in its face causing it to roar in both anger and pain before launching its own stream with the exception that it used ice instead. The two streams met between the dragons and successfully managed to keep Harry's attack at bay. Harry cut off his stream as he fully flew past his adversary. He banked right and quickly moved to continue to attack before it could try and escape. The dragon didn't seem to want to try escape at all as it too turned and made to attack. Harry shifted his body so his claws were in front of him and ready to dig into his opponent. He quickly shot a stream of fire into the dragon's face forcing it to turn his head away and therefore become unable to dodge as Harry ran into him once more and dug his sharp claws into its body.

The fact that Harry wouldn't let go of the now injured dragon forced them to fall out of the air and crash though several trees before heavily running into the ground. When they hit the ground, Harry was forced to let go before he got stuck in a tumble with the other dragon. He steadied himself and looked at the other dragon. The white dragon was injured badly on its side form the deep claw marks Harry had left. It was struggling to get up as well showing one of its legs had been injured as they crash landed. Harry walked over to his opponent. The dragon watched him come with defiance and tried to shoot another stream of ice to force Harry away. Harry once more combatted it with a stream of fire though he enhanced it with his own magic this time. The white dragon could not hope to go against the magically enhanced fire that Harry was spewing and was soon overwhelmed with it. When he heard the dragon start to roar in pain from the heat, he cut off the stream. The white dragon's entire head was blackened from his flames and it panted heavily as its body stayed limp on the floor. Harry reached it and put one clawed foot to its throat. He leaned down and roared loudly into the white dragon's face possibly scaring all creatures in a thirty-mile radius away from him. He saw the white dragon flinch from the roar.

Harry looked into the creature's eyes. Dragons didn't really form into packs of any kind but they, even here, could be forced to submit to a much stronger opponent. Once they submitted, Harry could reach into their mind and cement a loyalty to him based off their own instincts. He had gotten the idea from legends in his own world about how Merlin had tamed a dragon. He had tweaked the concept and made a way for himself to use it. It was also much easier for a dragon to think it was submitting to another dragon as its pride was a lot harder to get around when it thought a puny human could beat it. When Harry finished the submission of the creature, he morphed back into his human form. The dragon looked confused and weakly gave him a few sniffs before confirming he was still the same creature that defeated it. Harry smirked as he moved to start healing the dragon's wounds. It didn't try anything as it felt the warm glow of Harry's magic reach out and start to heal it.

It took close to fifteen minutes to fully heal the dragon to his own satisfaction. The dragon moved and weakly tried to sit up which it did manage to do. It looked at Harry and Harry looked right back at the creature.

"I'm not going to give you a name. Despite your obedience belonging to me, you will still be you in a sense so to rename you would be an insult." Harry said. The dragon showed no sign that it understood him but Harry knew that it had because he had also connected their minds so he could communicate with it. "You have no way of knowing this but you will be my first step to achieving the greatest fighting force this world has ever seen. You and some of your other brethren that is. I have a feeling I am going to need more than a few of you to get Emhyr to back off." Harry said almost talking to himself. The dragon growled at the name, picking up its new master's dislike for it. Harry smirked.

"Heh, let's go build an empire."

 **And theres the latest chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll see you next chapter. Remember to favorite/follow/review if you like the story!**


	9. Chapter 9

_Far North_

 _Harry's POV_

Harry stared into the clearing at all of his latest conquests. Five. He had already taken control of five White Dragons in the first three months that he had been here. He had been right about them having a higher level of intelligence than normal dragons.

After he had taken the first one's mind and gotten it to follow him, the others stayed away from him and would actively try to avoid him as much as possible. The next one took him two weeks to hunt down since it was constantly on the move. Unfortunately, in a full out flight, the White Dragons were faster than him so if he couldn't get the jump on it then it would fly off before he got a chance to do anything.

He, of course, used trackers but apparition didn't help that much since they spent most their time in the air except to rest and eat and he needed to do both those things as well which made it difficult to catch up.

It didn't help that they could apparently also sense magic to some extent which Harry should have guessed since he already knew they could suppress their presence to an extent. He hadn't confirmed it yet but he also believed that they possibly had some form of camouflage ability that they utilized with the magic in their body.

As annoying as it would, it was also extremely fascinating. He had not studied White Dragons in any real depth until now and they were definitely fascinating. He was pretty sure that it was almost impossible for them to ever give birth to a Golden Dragon because they actually used much of the magic that they absorbed. It also explained why there were originally so few of them. They couldn't give birth to litters of dragons and could only birth one or two at a time because they did not have enough magic to birth anymore.

Eventually, though he finally caught up with the dragon and snuck up on it while it was sleeping. The battle had been quicker than the first one he had gone through but just as intense. Casting magic beyond strengthening his fire was annoyingly difficult in his dragon form so battle usually required actual force and skillful maneuvering.

The third dragon had been the most ferocious and had also been the biggest white dragon he, so far, had faced. It wasn't much bigger than others of its subspecies but he was stronger and just as fast. Harry also suspected that it might have been younger than the first two that he had conquered. Despite its physical strength, its mental strength was not as strong as the first two.

The fourth and fifth were actually the easiest as they had actually already fought each other when Harry swooped in while they were both weakened. They had been smart enough to set aside their dispute to try and tag team him but it hadn't mattered with how weak they were. Harry was sure though that if they had both been at full strength, he would have had some actual trouble.

Now, he had led them all here, to this massive clearing. Harry had decided that this would be the place where he would build his first settlement that would be the start of his kingdom.

His first and strongest enemy was the cold. The biggest issue with barely any people living out in the Far North, compared to other kingdoms, was how cold it was. No one except the hardiest of people wished to risk freezing or starving to death just to come and live out in a barren wasteland. Now, making the entire Far North warmer was a task greater than even his ability but making this clearing where he would settle, warm enough to live would be doable.

The first task would be setting up a perimeter to keep the heat in and stop it from escaping. While his dragons lazed, Harry walked around the entire perimeter of the clearing setting up a large ward. It was actually a simple charm for insulation that he was expanding into a full ward around the area. It took him several hours to slowly circle the clearing while mentally casting the spell. When he finished he touched his magic to the ward to test its strength and made sure it would not collapse if some pesky sorcerer/sorceress tried to mess with it. He would put up protection wards a little later into his planning.

One of the next biggest problems in the Far North was the lack of food. There was plenty of game but not enough to support a real population of humans. Especially not a settled population.

There were two ways to fix this problem. He needed to make more crops and he needed to make sure there was more game available. Harry knew better than any human in the world how dangerous it was to mess with ecosystems. So, he would have to carefully and proportionally scale the ecosystem without actually making it bigger. Trees and plants would need to make more produce for small animals and herbivores who ate them. This would help their population rise which would, in turn, help the omnivore and carnivore populations rise as well. Of course, it wasn't that simple, he would have to use magic for plants to grow stronger as…encourage the animals to fornicate more but it was possible.

Harry got started by finding a large stone and going to work on transfiguring it, he thought extremely hard about the shape and size of what he wanted and quickly started to sweat just from the sheer amount of concentration he had to put into the transfiguration. After nearly ten minutes, he opened his eyes.

In front of him, where there was once a stone, now sat what looked like a large, perfectly spherical container. At a close look, the container looked to be made out of a mixed color of copper and bronze. Running his hands along it, Harry couldn't feel a single imperfection in the surface. Despite its metallic sheen, the object itself wasn't made out of metal. It was similar to obsidian in properties and strength more than anything else. He had never made a name for the material and decided not to now either.

The purpose of his new creation was to act as a body, in a sense, for a complex matrix of runic arrays that he would wrap over the surface. The material was impressively strong but even more impressive was its ability to conduct magic. It was the second strongest conductor Harry had ever seen, right next to Mithril.

He pressed his hand to the surface and it sunk in as if it were made of a liquid rather than the solid it actually was. Almost immediately the sphere started glowing a teal blue, attracting the temporary attention of his dragons who were still lazing.

Harry watched carefully as tiny glowing symbols started to slowly etch onto the surface of the sphere, glowing the same teal as the current aura surrounding the sphere. The runes were in several different languages and none from this world. Harry didn't ever want this to fall into the hands of his enemies but if it did, they wouldn't be able to understand it, activate it, or manipulate it.

The actual process was both long and tedious and even had a chance of not working. He had technically never attempted this before and had only ever researched the concept on his free time. He was confident it would work though as his math was usually correct.

After several more hours, the etchings were done and the sphere stopped glowing. Harry stood back and looked at the finished product. It was something else he had not yet named but its function was the complete manipulation of biomes to a microscopic level. If he wanted. He could turn half of the Far North into a desert with this device. It affected not only the floor but the air and even the atmosphere within a certain distance. Something that could end up being truly dangerous in enemy hands. Perhaps he should leave traps on it for anyone who attempted to use it? Yes, better to be safe than sorry.

A few more moments and the sphere was complete, now all he need was to name it.

"Hmm. Gaia's Sphere? No too long. Ball of Creation? That just sounds lame….Ra's eye? Hmmm. Not bad. Better than anything else I've thought of. Alright, its settled. I will call you Ra's eye until I can think of something better." Harry said. The sphere gave what looked like a pulse in response. Harry smiled at the action.

"Good. With that settled, I now need to start on the exoskeleton of the settlement…" Harry looked down at the sun the just dipped below the tips of the trees.

"Perhaps tomorrow." Harry thought to himself. He moved closer to his dragons who seemed to already be on their way to sleep. He pulled his shrunken trunk from his neck and retrieved his traveling tent. He entered it a breathed a sigh of relief. Truth be told, Ra's Eye was both magically and mentally taxing to make.

Harry moved to his bed and immediately laid on it with relief at feeling its softness. Almost as soon as his eyes closed, he was in the land of dreams.

Harry didn't dream often. Most of his experience in dreams were from his childhood and almost all of them were nightmares. This was why he was pleasantly surprised by the current dream he was having. He was back in Potter Manor in the living room. He hardly recognized it as he hadn't thought of the place in years. There was a lit fire in the fireplace casting the room in a warm orange light. However, the thing that most gained his attention was the presence of another person curled up on his side.

Harry could immediately tell who it was, He had memorized every feature from the time together after all. It was Ciri, his Ciri, not the little girl who he had been protecting from the shadows but the one who he had saved all those years ago. She seemed to sense his gaze and she looked up at him. Her green eyes met his and she smiled softly. Harry returned it as he looked into her eyes. He felt a tingle go up his spine while looking at her.

Eventually, she stopped staring and returned to nuzzling her head into his chest. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her close. He sighed in content. This was the reason he had done so much for so long. The peace, the contentment, it felt like it penetrated his very soul like the most powerful drug. It was a feeling he had never been able to replicate for more than a century now yet even her presence in his dreams could accomplish it.

He stayed like that in his dream, wrapped around her and her him. He blinked as he stared down at her and suddenly it was over. He was no longer staring down at her short ashen hair but at a faded tan cloth, the top of his tent to be precise. The feelings of peace and contentment were gone like a whisper in the wind. Harry growled and shot of his bed. He threw a punch at the nearest wall in frustration and watched a wave of fire shoot out his fist and burn an entire wall of his tent to a crisp.

He growled again, this time of annoyance rather than frustration.

"Goddamnit." He whispered to himself. Out of the new hole in his tent, he could see his companions looking at him in confusion before going back to whatever prey that had managed to catch that particular morning.

Harry made work to repair his tent before eating some quick breakfast. After that, he bathed himself before packing the tent away and looking out into the empty clearing once more. The first thing he wanted to do would be to make a tower. It would serve the purpose of housing him and hosting any visitors he wished. It would also house Ra's Eye. It would be hidden in the tip with a conducting pillar going straight down the tower and double as a support beam. He would change the appearance of it to make it look less suspicious even to other sorcerers.

The tower would also double as a symbol to his people, another thing that would assert his right to rule. That is why he would make it almost entirely of metal. Something never seen or done before at this time. It would not look buildings from his homeworld. He had a sleeker idea in mind. It would like a thin, smooth pyramid that when 1000 feet into the air.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how to make such a complex structure in a way that would be structurally sound. He might be able to do so with magic but he wouldn't even know where to start. Making the materials should not be a problem though. He could quite easily make several forges and have them constantly pumping out metals with ease. He already knew where several iron veins were located as well as some silver and even gold. He could use some miners and other craftsmen. Making all that metal into something usable would take time, effort, and ass loads of magic.

With a sigh, Harry looked at his dragons and ordered them to stay put. He doubted any would be able to disobey his command but just in case, he had trackers on all of them. With that, he apparated away further south towards actual kingdoms. It wasn't long before he was on the Dragon Mountains peak and looking down at the northern realms. There were tons of places he could start but the first one would the small settlement of Duskband.

Duskband wasn't a real settlement, to be honest. The 200 people who lived there were those who had nowhere else to go and used the Far North as a means of income either through mining or carpentry, etc. The little shacks they called houses barely kept them protected from the elements and looked like they might fall over any second. They were currently on this side of the mountains because it was the middle of winter making it harder to live in the Far North, though they wouldn't be able to stay too long otherwise bandits would find and rob them or nobles would and try to tax them.

They would be the perfect group to introduce first to his new little haven. They were already familiar with parts of the Far North and they would be more willing to start a new more prosperous life due to the fact that they were constantly having to deal with unwanted hardship. Bandits and asshole Nobles constantly trying to rob and take advantage of them.

Harry apparated near the camp and walked into it. People seemed to be busy working hard with crops and taking care of the animals, they had. He saw he was getting strange looks from the people but they didn't approach him or say anything, they just kept their eye on him. Eventually, a tall man approached him.

"Welcome traveler. I have not seen you in these parts before. What brings you here?" He asked kindly. Harry looked up at the surprisingly tall and beefy man. He had a thick red beard and bright brown eyes. Harry estimated him to be at the start of his 40's. As soon as the man talked to him, the entire settlement seemed to focus in on them, it was clear they were still pretending to not pay attention but there subtly was practically non-existent.

"Greeting's, I am Hadrian Black. I wish to talk with the leader of this settlement if possible." Harry said politely. It was very important that he not make anything sound like a demand as these people would see it as him taking advantage of them. The red-bearded man eyed him for a moment before leading him over to a tent that appeared slightly bigger than the rest. Entering it showed it to be only slightly warmer than outside and mostly empty save for; a bed, some chairs, a small table, and a small chest where he likely stored his things.

"So, what brings you to me little lordling?" The man asked as he eyed him. Harry's lips twitched upwards at the man's attempt to anger him.

"I wanted to give you an offer, well perhaps more of a deal that would be mutually beneficial to both of us. If you were interested." Harry said not rising to the man's bait and continuing on politely. The man frowned and looked on suspiciously at him. Harry didn't let it bother him, he just continued to look into the man's eyes.

"Let's hear it then." The big man said back to him.

"I will not beat around the bush. I am attempting to start a new kingdom. A kingdom of equality where everyone will be given rights and treated fairly. I can do a fair bit of starting it up myself but a kingdom is nothing without citizens. I offer you protection and a home for free. I can make your crops plentiful and your animals grow strong. All I ask in return is that you join my kingdom." Harry said. The man looked at him for a moment.

"Are you sick in the head boy?"

"No, and I am not a boy, I am older than you are. I'm a sorcerer." Harry explained. Immediately on the admission of that, the man's eye became guarded.

"A sorcerer? A sorcerer is trying to start his own kingdom now?" The man asked as if the very idea insulted him.

"I am. The nobles and kings of this realm don't seem to be doing the best job of it so I will try my hand at it myself. Every kingdom that I have been too has some flaw with it that will eventually be its downfall. I want a kingdom of peace. A kingdom where people can come and not deal with prejudice and wonder if that day will be there last. Where they have to wonder if the kings and nobles will turn on them for profit. I don't care about all that. I don't care what race or species my people are. All I want is unity." Harry said letting the passion he felt slip into his voice to help convince the man of his honesty. He didn't mention the building an army part, that would come later.

"And how exactly do you plan to take this territory from the nobles who already own it?" The man asked incredulously.

"I don't, my kingdom is in the Far North. I have already established buildings for settlements, areas for crops and animals, and walls for protection. I have also made sure the settlement will stay warm no matter what season it is. So, what say you to this offer?" Harry asked. He already knew what the man would say even before he said it.

"I'll have to think on this and talk with the others about it." The man said after a moment. Harry nodded.

"I shall be back in two weeks' time; do you think that's enough to think about what I have offered?" Harry asked him. The man nodded.

"One more thing, do you have a name I can call you?"

"Grogik"

"Hm. You from Skellige?" Harry asked.

"Aye. Was sailing down the coast when a storm hit us. Woke up a week later here in this settlement with the most beautiful woman I have ever seen tending to my wounds." Grogik said with a huge smirk. Harry chuckled a little.

"Is it safe to assume she is now your wife?"

"Indeed, she is! Best thing that's ever happened to me." Grogik said while standing up.

"Congratulations then. I suppose I shall see you in two weeks." Harry said as he apparated away from the mobile camping grounds probably scaring the crap out of Grogik.

 _1 Week Later_

Harry was watching with amusement as huntress was shooting arrows into the side of his dragon to absolutely no avail. He had already warned the dragon not to do actual harm to the woman mentally but from the annoyed expression on said dragon's face, it might not be too much longer before it succumbed to its base desires and ate her. Knowing this, Harry stepped near the woman.

"You know, you're not actually damaging him, you're just making him more annoyed with you." Harry pointed out causing the woman hiding behind the tree to jump in fright before turning and glaring at him.

"Be quiet and get down before it attacks you, you idiot." She hissed at him. Harry looked the woman over. She looked very fit and although she was covered head to toe in furs to protect herself from the cold, Harry could tell she had quite a bit of muscle on her. She had dirty blonde/ brown hair to frame her rather sharp face. He gave her a raised eyebrow.

"Unlikely." Harry said as he looked at the dragon who was glaring in their direction, "Go back home. Eat some food and cool off a bit."

The dragon let out a low rumble from his chest before raising his wings and pushing up off the ground and into the air before flying back into the direction of Harry's settlement. He watched the woman look at the dragon flying away with a look of awe before turning back to him and looking at him with suspicion.

"How did you do that? You some kind of sorcerer?" she asked accusingly. Harry just stared back in amusement.

"I am indeed. And you are?" Harry asked politely

"Merri." She responded back while still looking at him suspiciously, "Never heard of a sorcerer that could control dragons." She said. Harry started walking and Merri followed keeping pace to his left.

"I am not most sorcerers. I am quite a bit more powerful not to brag. And what about yourself? It's rare to see a half-elf this far North." Harry said. Merri snorted in return.

"You must be new around here then. Plenty of half-elves and other outcasts live up here." She responded back. Harry's eyes scrunched up in thought. He had not encountered that many half-elves or other outcasts here in the Far North yet but it wasn't like he had looked for them or anything.

"I had not noticed any settled populations within the Far North," Harry admitted.

"Were mostly settled in the Dragon Mountains and venture down into the Far North for hunting," Merri explained. Harry nodded. He had never spent much time in the mountains themselves though he supposed there were spaces in certain parts that were big enough for settlements.

"Fascinating," Harry said as they stepped into his clearing and approached his own settlement. A few moments of silence and he looked back to see Merri frozen in shock looking at his partial created city.

"What is this place?" she asked quietly.

"It's a new city I am making for all to be able to live in and enjoy. By now you should have also noticed the temperature rise as well. That's to make it more comfortable to live here. The walls at the moment are made of stone as they were easy enough to conjure. The homes, building, and towers are made from a multitude of different material. Do you like it?" Harry said.

"It's magnificent. It must be bigger than Novigrad." She said as she rejoined him and got closer to the city.

"In size, yes, it is. However, it currently can only house about ¾ of the number of people as Novigrad. The houses I have made standard are bigger to help promote a higher standard of living." Harry said to her as they walked through the partially complete city.

"Who do you plan on having live here?" she asked as she looked at the homes. Harry wasn't sure but he thought he heard some longing in her voice as she looked around. Harry shrugged.

"Any who wants to. The kingdom I wish to make is for everyone who wishes to live in peace with each other." Harry said. That was not strictly true. He did want to make a kingdom where everyone was equal and none looked down on each other but he also wanted a kingdom so he could raise an army to deal with all threats against Ciri. Whether that be The Wild Hunt, sorcerers, or her own damn father. All enemies would be crushed before him.

"Anyone? Would you just let anyone live in this place you created and put all this work into by yourself? What's the catch?" Merri asked.

"The conditions are you follow the law and contribute to society in some way or another. You will also pay taxes from your job but based on a percentage rather than a set fee. This is to lighten the load of those who are too poor to give much. The laws are very concise and clear for most situations to not only keep the peace but also to keep the society running and fair to everyone. There are several law books that will be available for perusal for any who wish to look into it." Harry explained. His society was a mix of both a democracy and a monarchy to try and balance out the two government systems problems.

"What would you do for food?" she asked.

"Simple, the grounds near the city are more fertile than any other in the Far North and probably most in the Northern Kingdoms as well. There is also an abundance of animals that have made their way closer to the city that can be hunted for food now that the area is more fertile. I am working on getting cattle as well as chicken and sheep for food, leather, and wool. I have all resources necessary here to start a full-on kingdom.

"How did you get the land so fertile?"

"Magic," Harry said back dryly. Merri just glared at him but Harry just stayed silent and continued to not elaborate. Ra's eye would need to be kept a secret after all.

"Alright, so you're apparently trying to make some time of paradise then, what's in it for you? Nobody would do all this just to help others." Merri.

"Sure, someone would. It only takes someone with the means and ability to finally get tired of the current status quo and wish for change. Anger and annoyance can be very strong motivators you know." Harry pointed out. He purposefully did not mention whether or not that was why he was doing this, he just gave her another explanation on why someone might do what he was doing. If she assumed that was why he was doing it then that was her fault.

Harry thought about the current opportunity presented before him. Merri was probably a member one of the settlements in the Dragon Mountains. If he could place the thought in her head that living here would be better she might go back and convince others of the same thing in those settlements. At this point, Harry just needed to get the ball rolling. He already knew that his kingdom had the potential and founding ideals to be superior to almost all that currently existed in this world. As he was from a similar world but heavily more advanced in almost all ways allowed him to know the issues that were caused by governments of the past as well as some in the future.

"And was it who drove you to this point then?" Merri asked.

"A man who thinks it's his right and destiny to rule the world," Harry said darkly.

"Hmm. Careful in your conquest to best him that you don't become him." Merri warned. Harry looked at her and smiled.

"I will take your advice to heart," Harry told her. At that moment, a roar was heard close by. Merri tensed and whipped her bow out and had an arrow drawn in a blink of an eye. Her head tilted back and she was scanning the sky.

"Calm down, they are nothing to be concerned about. Here, come with me." Harry said as he walked away from the center of the city and towards the dragon area. Merri followed but seemed much tenser and cautious than before. It wasn't long before they approached what looked like moving snow pile. They got closer before it got clear to be the White Dragons Harry was currently using as guards.

"Oh, my gods…" Merri said as she gazed at them.

"No need to be afraid as you can see. They just start to roughhouse when they get bored." Harry explained. Merri just gazed at the dragons.

"How…"

"I told you I was the best did I not? It was your choice not to believe me." Harry said.

"And you just keep them like pets?" She asked incredulously.

"No, they roam around a lot and hunt for themselves. They act more as guards for my city as I do not have any settlers or any army myself. Not that I expect to be attacked soon but better safe than sorry." Harry explained.

"How did you even find all of them?"

"It was easy enough once I learned how to track them down. They're not as rare as people think they are, just much better at hiding than their dragon brethren in the south." Harry explained. Merri said nothing as she looked on at the dragons who seemed to be ignoring them despite their close proximity. There was silence between them before Merri burst into loud laughter. Harry was startled by the sudden response and so were the dragons as they were all now staring at the woman who had possibly gone in insane.

Merri had fallen to the ground she was laughing so hard. Harry just continued to watch her with growing concern. After several minutes she finally managed to stop and Harry watched her climb back to her feet and stare at him with continued mirth shining in her eyes. Harry squinted at her.

"You're a weird one, aren't you?" Harry asked rhetorically. She just grinned in response.

"I should be saying that to you. You have built an entire city up here that looks to be some weird paradise hidden in the harsh north like a diamond among coal. Not only that but you have damned dragons as guard dogs for this city you have made in the middle of nowhere. To top it off you don't care who joins in this new paradise you call a city you just want people to have a place of peace. Do you not see how this is funny? This is one of those things that is too good to be true and yet it is!" Merri said as she started to laugh again though managed to keep herself upright this time.

Harry looked at her as he thought over what she said. Was he wrong to make a kingdom under such false pretenses? It's not like he wasn't going to do his best to make a paradise kingdom for all his citizens regardless of their race but he did so in hopes of getting something in return. Perhaps he should look at in a different. What if he made the kingdom but the army chose not to follow his orders and fight the battles he wanted them to fight? What if they decried his actions and turned on him, would he regret creating an entire kingdom where everyone was to be accepted as equals? No, even if it didn't work out the way it hoped he would still feel pride in accomplishing something that no else had been able to accomplish.

Well, maybe not exactly true, Zerrikania was pretty liberal and accepting but it wasn't perfect and had problems of its own, mainly the dirty and underhanded politics that took place between its lords and ladies.

Despite all that he still had to try. If nothing else, Ciri was his friend and he would do everything in his power to help a friend in need. He would do it even if it meant getting his hands dirty a little.

He stopped thinking about his moral dilemma and focused back in on Merri who was just looking at the dragons in wonder still.

"Feel free to enjoy the Dragon Pit as long as you like just don't antagonize the dragons or they might try and eat you. If you need me just listen for loud noises in the city and you should be able to find me. It is getting late as well so feel free to stay the night if you would like or move in, I don't care. Only the houses in the center of the city have any sort of furnishing in them at the moment so you may choose any of them to live in." Harry told her as he started to walk away and get to work in his city. Roads had to be created with stone and houses needed to be furnished. He also had to start splitting the city into separate districts.

' _Ugh, I have so much more work.'_


	10. Chapter 10

_6 Months Later_

Harry looked at his city that now seemed to be sprawling with inhabitants. Oddly enough, he had not yet done anything to even try to recruit people since he had talked to Grogik. Duskband had initially denied his offer and he had respected Grogik's decision. It was hard to simply give up your freedom to someone you didn't even really know. Sadly, for Grogik his nomadic village had been attacked a month later by bandits, they had driven them off but not after they killed off over a quarter of the population. Most of their houses and supplies had been burnt to ash. Duskband would eventually bounce back as it always did but Grogik seemed to be smart enough to try and stop history from repeating itself and had seeked out Harry once more to see if his offer still stood. Harry had not minded at all and welcomed him and his people with open arms. He explained how living here would work and explained the pros and cons as honestly as he could. They had agreed and seemed to be settling into life here easily. They had started growing crops and taking care of livestock.

Of course, Merri had also been helpful in getting people though more in a passive way than Grogik. Merri seemed to go back to her old settlement every week or so and seemed to come back with more and more people each time. Harry was actually impressed. He would be the first to admit that he probably wasn't the easiest person to trust and his charisma could definitely use some work. Merri was the opposite it seemed. A lot of people seemed to get along with her and trust her word which made her currently invaluable to Harry, not that he was using her or encouraging her to bring more people here. She seemed to want to do that on her own.

"I've considered Fredrik to get started on those mines with some of his guys for you." Harry looked up in surprise and saw Merri walking into his office that was still located at the bottom of his incomplete tower. He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't remember asking you to do that," Harry said, the question clear in his voice. Merri just shrugged.

"They were happy to get back to what they love doing, plus people need to understand that living here isn't free. They need to contribute." Merri said. Harry thought it odd for her to say such a thing. He would not consider Merri a friend yet but after 6 months, she was the current closest thing. That being said, he didn't see a benefit in her going out of her way to do his job for him.

"Why are you helping me make sure people start working? You already do your part so you would be in no danger of being kicked out of here." Harry asked her curiously.

"I'm the one who brought them here. It would look bad on me if they just tried to mooch off you. Enough about that though. Mines have been started and that's it. What are you doing?" she asked as she approached the desk. Harry kindly transfigured a chair for her which she gladly sat in. He then looked back down at his papers.

"Boring logistics for the most part. I'm comparing how much it takes to feed our current population and comparing it to how much more we will need if the kingdom continues to expand at this rate. I also factor in any unexpected large population increases for whatever reason. We do fine now but soon I will have to make sure we have more livestock. I have a potion to help increase fertility in most animals and plan to slowly introduce it to live stock." Harry said.

"Why slowly? Wouldn't it be faster to have them all take it at the same time?" She asked. Harry nodded.

"Faster, sure. However, it would be much harder to control a livestock that increases so quickly plus we need to make sure all of the animals are healthy before we let them add to the genepool. Don't want to spread any unnecessary disease. I also need to make sure the potion has no adverse effects on the creature. "Harry explained.

"I thought only sorcerers could take potions." Merri pointed. Harry observed her for a moment before nodding. He had been taken aback by her knowledge of potions.

"Some potions yes. That being said, I know how to make some that can be used by others or creatures if I want." Harry told her. Merri nodded though she still looked like she didn't understand something.

"is that all you have been doing over here, I mean you have been shut in here for almost a week," Merri told him. Harry frowned at that tidbit. He had not realized he had been away for so long. Then again, he rarely slept long unless he was hibernating so time kind of just faded into the background for him.

"No, I have a problem I have been trying to solve with magic and it has yielded very little results as of yet," Harry admitted.

"You want to explain it. I hear talking to someone else can often reveal obvious mistakes we overlook." Merri said with an amused smirk. Harry smiled back.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. I have been trying to use magic to help find useful places to mine for precious gems. So far, I have not made much progress." Harry admitted to the half elf. Merri was silent for a moment.

"Well you were right, I have no idea how to help you with that," Merri said back after her pause. Harry just laughed at her and she just glared back as her face went a little red.

"Fine, see if I try to help you again," Merri said as she stood up with her chin in the air.

"Oh, come now Merri you know it was funny, you know I meant no offense," Harry said as he tried to calm himself down but couldn't seem to as he burst into another fit of laughter as he looked back at the glare on her face.

"I'll get you back for it Sorcerer. No one gets away with laughing at me!" Merri stabbed back. Harry avoided looking at her because he knew with her crossed her and raised chin she would just cause him to laugh again.

"Okay, okay. I am done. No more laughing I promise. So, besides getting my mines up and running, thank you for that by the way, what have you been up to the last week?" Harry asker her politely. Merri smirked back.

"I have been hunting of course. I've almost single handedly killed enough for everyone here." Merri said proudly, unconsciously puffing her chest out. Harry just leaned his head on one of his hand planted on the desk with his elbow.

"You're a humble one aren't you?" Harry asked rhetorically, Merri just stared back with resolve.

"There is nothing wrong with taking in pride in one's accomplishments. I worked hard to become this skilled you know." She said back. Harry gave a single nod in acknowledgement.

"To an extent. Everything in moderation after all. Make sure your pride does not blind you in the future. I have seen it be the downfall of many of my friends and allies as well as my enemies." Harry told her seriously. Merri stopped puffing out her chest at his words and seemed to deflate a little before gaining a look of contemplation.

"Have you ever fought in a war Harry?" she asked him curiously. Harry looked at her in shock from the question. What caused her to ask such a thing?

"I have." He responded back with an obvious lack of emotion. Obvious even to himself.

"Which war were you involved in?" she asked. Harry waved his hand dismally at the question.

"Not one you would have ever heard of or have ever seen before. It took place a long time ago and was a war that only involved sorcerers and sorceresses." He told her. Merri seemed extremely intrigued after he said that last sentence which was unfortunate since he would rather not talk about it.

"A war of only magic men? I can't even imagine what that would be like. Did you win? What was it about?" She asked eagerly as she moved closer to his desk almost on instinct. Harry scowled slightly.

"I will answer but no more questions about it. I did win the war and it was about those who felt magicals should rule over those who did not have magic and they were against those who believed magicals should live in peace with their non-magical counterparts." Harry told her. Merri's face portrayed her surprise quite well and vibrantly. Her eyebrows then scrunched up.

"Which side were you on?" she asked. Harry just raised an eyebrow at her and proceeded to give her a look that showed he thought her to be an idiot. He then gestured to everything around him. She looked confused before her eyes cleared in understanding and she blushed in what he guessed was embarrassment at her obvious answer.

"Ah, yes of course." She said before turning around and walking away stiffly still feeling the embarrassment. Harry waited for her to close the door before he started laughing at her again.

 _2 Months Later_

Harry sat in his office chair and looked expressionlessly at the man in front of him. The man himself was wearing a sharp impressive robe showing he had wealth as well as glasses which was uncommon in this time period. He was a sorcerer to be sure. Harry could feel the magic contained in his body. He was nothing impressive power wise but he seemed to have a good amount of control which Harry could respect. It wasn't always about power after all. Surrounding the man where several of the new guards he had officially hired last month for the city. All were glaring at the man and had their hands on their swords.

Harry almost smiled at the thought of them trying to take this man down. These men had a month of actual training at most courtesy of Grogik. They wouldn't even be able to lay a finger on the man. The sorcerer must have realized this too by now so Harry assumed the man was being so cordial because he either did not know yet his power or he had some idea and knew not to piss him off.

"One more time for me, why are you here?" Harry asked the man. If the sorcerer was annoyed by Harry yet again asking the question he did not show it. He just nodded before starting on again.

"Of course, my lord. My name is Asal, I am a sorcerer as you can tell and have come because I heard of a strange city that had been started in the Far North. My curiosity has urged me to come and see this new city for myself. I have explored your impressive city for a week now and have come to offer my services if you will have me as is required for new members I hear." Asal said as he bowed slightly at the end in respect.

Harry blinked once at the man's explanation. He was a spy, that was clear to Harry, the only question was for who. He immediately knew it had to be someone with some magical ability as they would have to use some scrying or divination to be able to find his city. The question was if they were working by themselves, a convention of magicals, or a kingdom. From what his little crows had gathered, the Northern Kingdoms seemed to have started to turn on their magical brethren as well as non-humans. Geralt also seemed to have been busy with no memory.

Perhaps Nilfgaard? No, Emhyr would no doubt dismiss his little kingdom even if he had heard of it purely on the fact that the man would be arrogant enough to believe himself untouchable by something so small. Hmm, it was clear he would not find out now but perhaps he could take advantage of the situation.

Ever since his run in with Vilgefortz he had made precautions to prevent himself from simply being knocked out, or rather a defense for WHEN he was knocked out. It had actually been a rather painful defense to create but worth it in his opinion.

With that said, he did not necessarily fear having another sorcerer here and it could even be beneficial. Mainly to further promote the fact that anyone could be accepted here. Plus, the sorcerer could do the minor things he was to busy to do himself.

"How… convenient." Harry finally said to the man who seemed to micro-fidget at his words, "What services exactly could you provide me?" Harry asked trying now to sound politer. It seemed his attempt worked too as the man seemed to breath out a little easier.

"While not an expert in spellcraft, I am quite accomplished in alchemy and have brought with me many of my tomes which I would be willing to share of course." The man said. Harry held himself back from scoffing. If this man was lacking in spellcraft than he was a baby bunny rabbit. The man was trying to make himself look weak but still useful.

"Very well, you are welcomed into our growing little city. As long as you follow our laws you will continue to be welcomed." Harry said warningly to the man. Asal smiled in relief and nodded.

"Of course, now, how is it you sign up for lodging here?" Asal asked politely. Harry didn't respond immediately, instead, he waved his hand and signaled his men off. They took their hands off their blade reluctantly and walked out slowly, throwing glares the entire way.

"Come here," Harry said as he reached into his desk. He pulled out a big, rolled up, piece of parchment. He unrolled it and it covered the whole surface of his desk. On it was a complete map of the entire city. The buildings were separated into several colors consisting of red, blue, green, and yellow.

Asal approached confidently and peered down at the piece of paper with interest.

"The buildings that are red and blue are homes. The ones that are red have already been chosen and the ones that are blue are the ones you can choose from. When you are done choosing, place your index finger on the house you would like and I will have it registered to you." Harry told him. Asal nodded as he looked around with interest in his choices.

"May I ask what the benefits are?" Asal asked. Harry thought for a moment.

"I guess most people just choose based off where their jobs are. Hunters and farmers tend to live closer to the wall. Miners tend to do the same. Most craftsmen tend to live closer to the center of the city though. The roads in place make it much easier to get anywhere in the city especially with it's grid like pattern so where you live hardly matters. Your alchemy ability allows you more flexibility since you can contribute in more ways." Harry told the man. Asal nodded.

"Can you commission your own type of house if you have the money?" Asal asked.

"You can, although there are regulations on sizing. I'm not going to be letting anyone build a manor within city limits. If you want to in the countryside that's fine if you have the money." Harry explained giving a pointed look. It was known that sorcerers with any actual skill tended to like the finer things in life or at least use to. Asal seemed to nod at that.

"I was simply curious is all. I have seen the model house you have set up and I am sure your houses will be fine space-wise for me." Asal assured.

"Good. Feel free to take your time with your decision." Harry told the man.

"Oh no need, I think I have made my choice. I suspect at some point you plan to have these yellow zones be set aside for merchant use but what are these green areas if I may ask?" Asal asked.

"They will be government property and buildings to be used how I decide at a later date," Harry said vaguely. He already knew what he was going to do with most of it but not yet. Not for 700 people. Asal nodded at his answer nonetheless.

"I see. Well, I was thinking here if that's okay." Asal said as he pointed to a specific house. Harry was unsurprised to find it was in close proximity to both his house and the tower.

"I think I might set up a clinic nearby so this would b-…" Asal started but Harry didn't feel like hearing whatever convenient excuse the man managed to make up.

"Done," Harry said. Immediately the house turned from blue to red on the parchment seeming to surprise Asal, "It is now registered to you. Enjoy the property. Craftsman can make you most of the ordinary furniture you need to furnish your house. They have simple pre-made if you're in a hurry of course. You said you have been here for a week so I'm sure you know where to go. I look forward to you being part of our community. Now if you will excuse me, I have an important project to get back to and need to get started." Harry said in a clear dismissal of the man. Asal bowed again.

"Of course, thank you, my lord. I look forward to getting settled in." He said as he turned and walked away. Harry was sure he was going to send a report to however he was here for.

"You're just going to let him walk right in here? You do know he's just trying to get close to the new lord so he can get a cozy position like every other sorcerer." A voice said to his left. Harry didn't even bother to look as Merri stepped into the room behind the side door in his office where he knew her to be hiding.

"You are unfamiliar with the term I am sure but that is called stereotyping. Besides, that's not why he is here. He's here to spy on me." Harry told her. Merri frowned.

"So, you let a spy in your city? Is there a reason why?" Merri asked. She sounded angry, almost like she was going to yell at him. She might in all honestly. Merri seemed to have no fear of him and it amused him more than it bothered him. She'd go and yell at him if she thought he was wrong about something which was impressive since Harry knew that she knew that he could kill her if he wanted by blinking. All the more impressive on her part.

"Spy or not, I can make use of him. Also, it would be much harder to find out who sent him to spy on me if he wasn't here." Harry said to her. That really didn't seem to help Merri's opinion on the matter from the glare she was now sporting.

"What if he hurts someone?" She asked him accusingly. Harry frowned at that.

"I doubt he would but if he did I will personally introduce him to what hell on earth is. He would pay with every fiber of his being and then some. I promise." Harry said as he finally moved and looked her in the eye for the first time since she arrived there. He stared at her and she stared back with neither of them saying anything. Eventually, she nodded.

"Fine. It's your city. I can't tell you who you do or don't let in." Merri said as she turned to walk away.

"Merri," Harry called after her causing her to stop midstride. "Never be afraid to tell me your opinion on something. If you have a concern than bring it up. I can't always promise to give you the answer or result you want but I do always promise to listen at the very least. You have done a lot for this settlement, more than anyone other than me probably. You kickstarted it in a way that I probably never could."

Merri didn't move for a moment before she turned back towards him. She wasn't glaring or frowning anymore which he took as a good sign.

"I don't want him here. I think it's an unnecessary risk to everyone except you for just something you want." Merri told him. Harry thought for a moment on what she was saying. She was partially right in a way. Unfortunately, she was still thinking like a civilian. She was making a decision not considering how it could come back to bite them. The enemy you knew was always easier to deal with then the one you didn't. If he got rid of the spy they would send more as they would assume he had something to hide. They would try harder and eventually do something more forceful. He would not underestimate anyone the way he did Vilgefortz. He flinched just thinking about the embarrassing and totally avoidable situation. He still wasn't sure who had knocked him out for the asshole to be able to lock him up. He assumed it was an apprentice of some kind but if it was then he was likely as dead as his master by now.

"An unnecessary risk… maybe your right. Maybe I would look at it differently if I didn't have a way to contain him. So, what if it wasn't just me then?" Harry asked as he looked at her. She just looked back confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked with her face taking on its usual scrunched up appearance when she was confused or angry.

"What if I taught you how to kill sorcerers. That way if this guy does something, you can kill him yourself. Don't have to even ask for my permission." Harry said to her as he leaned back into his chair lokking at her reaction to his offer. Merri opened and closed her mouth multiple times.

"You?

"Yes."

"Are going to teach me?"

"Also, yes."

"How to kill sorcerers?"

"Merri, I am sure you understood what I offered the first time I offered it. Do you want the lessons or not?" Harry asked her as he enclosed his hands together and laid them on his lap to show he was waiting for her to answer.

"I… I can't use magic." She said back.

"I'm aware. Your reserves would knock you out in exhaustion with even the simplest of magic. You won't need magic to do what I will teach you. Sorcerers aren't THAT hard to take down. Most of them are as squishy as everyone else. They have the power that benefits them in a fight for sure but that doesn't mean they are unstoppable. Witch Hunters exist and they seem to be growing in number every day. They use numbers and knowledge to take out sorcerers. I will train you to be better than an entire squad of the best witch hunters. I'll give you the knowledge to be better than anyone at what you do. Maybe even me. If you can't trust me then Ill give you the means to trust just in yourself." Harry told her seriously as he leaned forward on his desk.

"I don't know. What would I have to do?" Merri asked as she shifted from foot to foot nervously. Harry stood and looked at her seriously.

"Merri, I want you to think about this carefully. I was a general once. I made decisions That caused hundreds to die. I trained people who would later become good enough to topple kingdoms if they wanted single handedly. Magic or not anyone who I have trained either cop out quick or becomes a force of nature but that's not an easy road. It'll hurt and everyday more than anything else you've probably felt. However, you will be able to do things no one else can do." Harry told her trying to stress the importance of this as much as he could.

Merri stayed quiet after as she contemplated what he told her. Inside, Harry was getting more and more use to the idea. Merri had a good head on her shoulders. She was nice to almost everyone until they gave her reason not to be and she could get people to listen. He had been playing with the idea of who to make his right hand for awhile now. He had thought maybe Grogik at first. He had proven himself to be strong and knew about sacrifice because of his previous warrior lifestyle. Sadly, the man had expressed no interest in a command of any kind since he had gotten here. He had stepped up to be a leader only because he needed to but now he didn't.

Merri was still naïve in certain aspects but he was sure if he could train her and show her the real way of the world, she would be someone he could count and depend upon. Running a kingdom was impossible to do alone, even for him. He needed to start delegation and he needed to start it soon before he became overwhelmed.

She looked at him and then at the ground with a frown on her face, clearly thinking hard about the offer she had been given by him.

"I want to think on this. More than just right now. It sounds like your offering me something more than simple training and I want to make sure I make the right choice." She said finally. Harry almost smiled at her answer. Not rushing blindly into the unknown was a quality many did not learn until it was too late. He was also glad that she seemed to grasp how serious this was.

"Very well, one week. After that, come to me with an answer. In the meantime, please alert the guards that no civilians are allowed to approach the dragon pit without my express say so. Anyone found doing so will be brought straight to me." Harry commanded as he sat back in his chair and looked back at his paper work.

"Okay, fine. One week." Merri said before turning around and slowly walking away. Harry watched her go. He had a feeling this would be a long week for her.

 _Asal POV:_

Asal smirked in self satisfaction at putting his new furniture in his home. Well, some of it anyway. The bed, a table, and a few chairs. He had used some of his money to commission more intricate ones that befitted someone of his station. For now, these would do though. He started moving the last of his cases from his cart outside and putting them into his home before giving a few silver pieces to the men that had helped him bring it. They smiled and thanked him before departing. He smiled as he watched them go.

It would do to endear himself to the locals as much as he could. It would help cement his status as a citizen just in case anything in his Mistress's plan went awry. So far though, it seemed to have gone off without a hitch. Though he thought he had been made when had come before the Black Mage. The locals said his name was Harry Potter though barely any used it. Most called him lord as was befitting of him. When he had looked at him for the first time in the eye, Asal felt sure that all his secrets had been laid bare before this man. He had to make sure his mental defenses were still up just from the look he had received.

He had sensed not a smidge of power from the man even right before him but he knew it was there. One only had to look into the man's eyes to see how powerful he truly was. Asal had could not stop fidgeting no matter how he had tried before the man. Luckily, the Black Mage must have been used to people being uncomfortable in his presence and had let him gain citizenship and property here.

Boy was that nice as well, free property to live in as long as you gave a contribution via work to the city and you still earned money on top of it! Sure there were taxes but it was nothing like the kingdoms. That was strange in itself as was how the Black Mage financing his new kingdom if he was giving so much away and taking in so little? He was sure magic had something to do with it but no one seemed to know what except the man himself so he was stuck.

Asal shook away his thoughts and went to one of the chests he owned. He opened it up and smiled at the golden stands he saw inside. He quickly got to work in setting them up in his spare room upstairs after making sure the windows were covered and magical protections were up. He finally got them all situated correctly and prepared himself. He went over to a mirror he set up in the room and looked at himself. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He released the breath after a moment and reopened his eyes.

Gone was the middle aged sorcerer with shoulder length scruffy black hair and a slightly broad face. In his place stood an elf with a slightly lighter complexion, and pointed ears. His cheekbones seemed to have risen a ways and his face became more narrow and defined. He smiled as he looked at his true face without the glamour he had been wearing constantly.

Once finished, he moved back to the megascope he had set up and activated. He waited for the recipient to respond and got on his knees as he did so.

Within a few moments, the crystals seemed to light up and project the image of a woman. This was not just any woman. It was clear she was of high birth of influence simply by her clothes but what really stopped many in their tracks was her face. It was beautiful beyond compare with not a single flaw or blemish to be seen. Asal felt like the luckiest man in the world just being able to see the face of his mistress.

 _Enid an Gleanna_ or Francesca Findabair as she was also known as. She was both his queen and his mistress. She looked and smiled at him gently which he was sure caused his heart to skip a beat.

" _Ah Asal. It is good to see you again. I trust, by you contacting me, you have had success?"_ she asked in elvish which made her voice sound like the sweetest of bird melodies.

" _I have my Mistress. The Black Mage or_ Harry Potter _as he is called, has granted me citizenship to his kingdom. I already have a permanent lodging which I have strategically picked to be both near his home and his place of work."_ Asal responded, eagerly giving information to please her. His queen smiled down at him.

" _Good. I knew I was right to trust you with this. Now, what is your first report?"_ she asked him in that same polite and gentle manner.

" _The city is everything the rumors say and more. It is more beautiful and magnificent than any other human settlement I have ever seen. It is ordered and structured yet everything looks as if made by an artist. The people here, while not yet numerous are happy and kind. Equality is law here and those who try to break it are punished, not that it happens often from what I hear. There are multiple races from humans to half-elves to dwarves. An update though, they do now have a guard system. I believe it is only made up of near fifty to seventy- five men but I am sure it will grow."_ Asal finished and stopped to momentarily take a breath. His queen waited patiently for him to continue.

" _I met the one who you have said to be the Black Mage. I believe it after meeting him. He radiated no power and I could feel nothing from him yet his eyes were like twin storms being held back waiting to consume me. I am sure he is the Black Mage."_ Asal told her.

" _What did he look like?"_ she asked him softly.

" _Un-humanly human if that makes sense. He has no characteristics of any blood but human in him yet all his traits seem almost… magnified if that makes sense. His hair is blacker than the night itself, his skin while not pale still seems to reek of a perfection I have yet to see a human achieve. His eyes though, more emerald than their gem counterparts and, as I said earlier, glowed with power."_ Asal finished with a slight shutter just thinking of his meeting with the man.

" _He did not seem suspicious of you when you arrived?" Enid an Gleanna_ asked in almost disbelief.

" _I believe he was at first but dismissed It and continued to let me settle here anyway,"_ Asal admitted not wanting to admit he might have almost been caught.

" _What services did you offer him?"_

" _I told him my spellcraft was lacking but I was an expert in alchemy which I would be sure to use to help aid his city if possible,"_ Asal answered quickly. His Queen nodded in approval at that.

" _Wise. Finally… what of the dragons?"_ she asked him. Asal hesitated before answering.

" _I… was able to confirm there existence through the locals but yet to have seen them myself. I have heard them on occasion though. It seems they have skill at stealth. I have yet to find if it is a natural trait or something the Black Mage gave them."_ Asal told her, bowing his head a little in the shame he had not managed to bring more information on one of his most important task. His Queen just waved her hand in dismissal at that.

" _You have done well Asal. Do not doubt that. You have brought me valuable information I will be able to use. For now, I shall take my leave but I hope you will give me regular updates on you and your mission."_ His Queen said to him. Asal nodded vigorously.

" _Of course, I shall call as soon as I find something,"_ Asal said to her which made her smile at him.

" _Excellent. Until our next chat then."_ She said before fading out of existence in front of him. Asal took a breath.

He loved talking with his Mistress but it certainly caused him stress in his effort to please her. Not that he minded to much. His greatest wish, after all, was to serve her. He turned away from his megascope and started to head downstairs to continue to unpack, totally unaware of the little crow hiding in the rafters of his house that had been watching him and his meeting the whole time.


	11. Chapter 11

_1 Year later_

 _Harry's POV_

"Good day to you King Harry."

Harry looked up from the book he was writing in. Asal was approaching with a warm smile on his face. Harry said nothing at the approaching man/elf. He just gave him a slight nod.

"Asal, I'm surprised you're not brewing potions at this time of day. I hear you have been quite busy these days." Harry commented lightly, he knew why Asal was here, he just needed to wait for the fake man to ask.

"Oh, I decided to take a break for the rest of the day. I have not caught you at a bad time, have I?" Asal responded as cheerily as he could, clearly trying to hide his discomfort caused by Harry's presence.

"No, just going over some of the population statistics." Harry replied to him. Asal nodded.

"And how is the population then? We must have passed two thousand by now." Asal said, looking to him for confirmation. Harry nodded.

"We are at two thousand six hundred. Growth has slowed down as there are less people in the mountains as well as the Far North to come and join us. Hopefully that problem will be fixed soon." Harry said trying to Segway into the topic that he knew Asal really wished to speak of with him.

"Ah yes, speaking of. I heard you made a path directly through the dragon mountains with magic. I was wondering if you would be possibly able to tell me how you did it. Was it a spell? I have never heard of one being able to do so much damage with so much precision before. Oh, I'm sorry this is so rude of me. I don't mean to pry if it is private." Asal said backtracking immediately. It was possibly because halfway through Harry had begun to give the man a chilling stare that had caused him to pale.

"Asal… do you know how vast the Dragon Mountains are? From one side to another in a straight path is three miles. I made the path one hundred yards across. Three miles and a hundred yards across and I leveled it completely. If I tell you how I did something like that and it gets out, what do you think will happen Asal? That amount of destruction in the hands of any two-bit sorcerer that thinks they are entitled to something that there not really entitled too. I appreciate your curiosity but curiosity is something that should be tempered with caution." Harry warned as he eased on the pressure he had put on the now terrified spy.

Asal seemed to ponder his words before seemingly relenting and then shakily nodding his head in agreement.

"I understand your point my King. Forgive me for any insult I may have accidently given you." Asal said with his head bowed. Harry looked at the sorcerers bowed form unimpressed. The man tried too hard to please him and was to clearly trying not to get on his bad side.

He had heard of Francesca Findabair before though he had never seen her in person. She was supposed to be very powerful, beautiful and intelligent. Despite knowing this, he had to question her intelligence when sending Asal here as a spy. Perhaps she simply hoped that he himself was not smart enough to notice the man's rather obvious spying ability.

There was also the other possibility that she had sent him knowing that he would be discovered as a test to Harry himself. It made sense. If he killed the man then Francesca would know to be more cautious and use more subtle methods when dealing with him. Or perhaps testing if Harry would allow a foreign presence in his court as long as it did him no harm and possibly benefitted him?

Why though, what was she trying to gain through him specifically? Still so many questions he had no answers to. He would send more of his birds South to the Nilfgaardian Empire to watch her.

"Was there anything else you wished to discuss with me today Asal?" Harry asked the man.

"No, my King. I will take my leave now." Asal said quietly.

"Asal I am not mad at you for being curious I just ask that you temper your curiosity with caution. You may always ask questions but I may not always answer for reasons that may only be clear to myself. Have a good day." Harry said as eyed the man. He didn't know if Findabair was up to but if she was looking for an impression of him, he would give her one.

Asal seemed to relax at his words and his smile returned.

"Thank you, my King. I shall keep that in mind for the future. By your leave?" Asal asked. Harry nodded and watched him leave. As soon as the door closed behind the man, Harry sighed.

"Have you just been following him around all day or have you decided to watch all meetings from now on?" Harry asked. Silence met his question for a moment before A body landed on his desk in a crouched position. He looked up to see the hooded face of Merri to see her gazing back at him.

"I almost regret teaching you how to do that." Harry said as Merri hopped off his desk and turned to him while giving him a look. Harry sighed and summoned a chair for her to sit in.

"So, how are you healing then?" Harry asked her as he reached into his desk and pulled out some Mahakaman Mead. He summoned two cups and poured into both before offering her one. Merri tilted it back and downed the whole thing in one gulp before setting the glass down.

"It almost doesn't hurt to walk at this point." Merri responded with a small glare directed at him. Harry just smiled in return.

"Now don't give me that, you agreed to it and look at you now. I bet there isn't a sorcerer alive that you wouldn't be able to put into the ground." Harry commented. Indeed, Merri had just finished the intense training Harry had put her through in order to learn how to take down magic users. He taught her things like ambushing, tracking, hiding without magic, and weapon usage to permanently put down sorcerers.

To teach her all that, he had to train both her speed and her strength. Her reaction time was also very important as well. Harry had given her the outfit she was now wearing as a gift for completing her training. A hoodie and trouser combo all in black. He had charmed both to have resistance to magic and mundane means of attack. It had hidden compartments for all her new little toys and gadgets. On her back was a quiver charmed to never run out of arrows. Which was good since she now went through them faster than most kings went through gold.

"Except for you." She said with annoyance. Harry smile widened at that.

"Well never say never I suppose. Now, I have a few task for you. One, I will be leaving soon for the rest of the day and you will be in charge while I am gone. Two, compile a list if you can of others that you may one day need to train to form a squadron. Three, keep an eye on the dragons. Asal hasn't stopped snooping around them since he got here. I know he is curious on how I managed to get them under my control and I would rather that remained a secret. If he tries to pull something while I am gone then you know what to do." Harry finished as he stood up from his chair as he got ready to leave.

"I just got here." Merri said with indignation.

"Technically you got here when Asal got here. Why were you really following him around by the way?" Harry asked. Merri frowned.

"It's one thing to be taught something, it's another to put it into practice. I wanted to make sure I could actually track him without him spotting me." She shot back. Harry nodded at her. A wise move then.

"An interesting and correct observation. Well with that out of the way I best be off, ciao." Harry said before apparating in front of her.

 _Dragon Mountains_

Harry looked at the massive road that stretched on for three miles in the unnatural valley he created in the Dragon Mountains. No matter what others said or thought, Harry knew it wasn't actually as impressive as it sounded. Over the last year, he had been coming here and setting up a massive runic chain that would cause a controlled explosion within the Dragon Mountains. He had to set up power runes and set the boundaries properly to make sure he got it just right. He then of course had to come back systematically to power all the rune arrays correctly.

Connecting literal thousands of small arrays over a distance of three miles, while not exactly hard, was extremely time consuming even with his ability to pretty much teleport. Mapping the mountains and putting them in the right spot even more so.

Despite all the trouble, it had been worth it. Now that Harry's little kingdom had expanded, there needed to be a way for some of the local merchants to sell their products in places other than here otherwise there would be no way to ever make his kingdom financially independent of himself. So, he need an ease of access route to get to the other kingdoms. Sadly, he knew that both bandits and possible armies could take advantage of this new route, Bandits by waiting to rob merchants and armies could use it to invade of course. So, he was going to make two gate ways, one on each end of the new mountain pass.

Harry turned behind him and looked at all the trees. He decided to use stone as the basis of each gate/outpost he was making and that, luckily, did not take as much magic to transfigure as metals.

Harry raised his hand and his hand started glowing a nasty green for a moment before he released it in front of him. Instead of a traditional condensed spell form, his spell came out as a crescent, thin, wave. It seemed to pass straight through the trees. After going through a few rows of trees the spell seemed to disappear.

A moment passed before, one by one, the trees slowly started falling on their sides. Another wave of his hand and then now fallen trunks floated into the air and slowly floated their way over to him.

As soon as he finished getting his source material, Harry started transfiguring them into large amounts of stone blocks and setting them to the side. He did this over and over until he had an amount that he was confidant would make the gate. It wasn't just a gate though. It would be a military outpost for protection as well as keeping track of who entered and left the country.

He waved his hands and watched as the stones started floating up in the arm. Watching it was amazing even as a sorcerer. He watched as the stones slowly stacked themselves to match the blueprints that he had in his mind. Keeping the proper concentration for the length of time needed did cause him a slight headache admittedly but he would apply a numbing charm when he finished.

An hour later and the exoskeleton of this gateway was complete. Harry sat down and took a big breath. He had been using so much magic recently without properly allowing himself to rejuvenate. He probably had a quarter of a tank left right now and that's the lowest he had for years now.

"You seem tired young man. A long day perhaps?" A silky voice said from behind. Harry jumped to his feet and spun around. Harry came eye to eye with a beautiful woman. She was a vampire clearly. The pale skin and silky black hair was a dead giveaway. Shapely figure and an athletic build only helped to enhance her unnatural beauty. Strangely, that was where the classic vampire looks ended.

Instead of long flowing hair, hers was cut short and didn't even reach her shoulders. Where most high vampires seemed to wear high class clothing to show off their status, this one wore simple, black, trousers and a white blouse that was only buttoned up to her navel. He briefly wondered if she used magic to make sure it didn't blow open and expose her chest or perhaps she simply did not care if it did. The whole look gave her quite the tomboy appearance. He had only met six other high vampires before but maybe they weren't as similar as he had originally thought.

Harry cursed himself silently. He could normally take on a high vampire through simply over powering their speed and strength with magic. He still could probably, the problem was that the battles usually ended up being about stamina. Vampires would tire even if he couldn't kill it. He had yet to figure out how to put one in the ground permanently as he had too busy for the last couple of years to continue that train of research.

"I have not met one of your kind in quite a few years. May I know your name?" Harry asked as he made sure he was far enough away from her to react if she tried anything. The woman seemed to smirk in amusement as she watched him take his steps backwards.

"My name? Hmmm… Isadora. And what is your name little sorcerer?" She asked as she started to walk in a circle around him. Harry matched her actions and soon they were walking in a circle keeping themselves the same distance away from one another.

"Harry. What can I help you with Isadora? Is it safe to assume you have crossed paths with me not by pure coincidence?" Harry asked trying to get straight to the point. A quick apparition back home would keep him safe for now but she would be able to track him down easily enough. He could go to a southern kingdom but that would take a lot out of him and he would have to spend even more time recovering leaving him vulnerable. A High Vampire's top speed was between ninety and a hundred kilometers an hour, he estimated, and it didn't take long for them to accelerate up to that level. Quick estimates in his head revealed he could probably not apparate far enough to stay out of her reach long enough to get back his magic.

"Yes, well you see I have this little problem. It happened a few days ago, there I was sleeping peacefully in the little cave I called home when suddenly I feel my body being ripped into nothingness. A painful process that took me seven hours to fully heal from. When I awoke, I find my home completely destroyed and a new valley in its place. I would have found it amazing had I not been so angry that my home of fifteen hundred years was now gone. My gate, destroyed." Isadora said as her eyes started to glow.

' _Oh fuck, I blew up the home of a motherfucking Unseen Elder.'_ Harry thought as he looked at her. He had never seen an Unseen Elder before but he had heard about them. Some of the most powerful vampires on the planet. Most lived in caves in isolation where they protected gates that separated the human world from the vampire world. Ancient and powerful vampires. Could they kill him, no. That said, he did not want to be killed over and over again for the rest of eternity.

"And now, I find a sorcerer, the only for miles in any direction. He's very powerful, or at least I think he is. I haven't met many to compare. So, I come to the conclusion that he may have had something to do with the new valley that went right through my home. Can you imagine what I am feeling as I look at him?" Isadora asked him. Harry stopped and looked into her eyes, he wondered if this what normal people felt when they looked at him. He felt small like he was at complete liberty to the person in front of him.

"I see…" Harry said. Okay now it was time to play damage control. He was pretty sure he was supposed to bow but it was probably past that point. He had to give her a reason to keep him not in a thousand pieces for the rest of his unnatural life, "I admittedly did have something to do with it, I had checked for life signs before doing it but I never imagined a vampire to be living there. I sincerely apologize. If you would allow, I would like to make amendments."

When Harry finished he bowed slightly to show his respect to the higher being. Damn, his hands were sweating. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so nervous. He hadn't even felt this way with Vilgefortz. The man barely knew what to do with him and couldn't even properly torture him. He was also mentally unstable. No matter what, Harry always knew he would escape, it wasn't a matter of if it was when.

This being was none of those things. A being of sound mind and patience, who would be able to keep him alive and on the verge of death for all eternity. Now that was something he was afraid.

"Ho? How do you imagine to be able to do that?" Harry jolted as the vampire was now right next to him and stroking his cheeks in a fake loving manner as she smiled at him. Harry felt her nails slightly scraping his cheek. He hadn't even seen her move, she was just there. His whole body tensed at the extremely close proximity they were in.

Judging by the smirk on her face, she enjoyed how nervous he was. He could see it in her eyes as they glinted in the waning sun. They seemed to invite him in an almost hypnotic manner. Harry steeled his mind and resolve as he looked at her.

"Your gate and home were destroyed by me, it is only fair I find or build you another one." Harry said. As soon as the last word was out of his mouth, he found himself sailing quickly through the air backwards head first. He flipped his body around quickly and just managed to land on his feet. He made to stand but before he could, he felt a fist get buried into his diaphragm. All the air in his lungs quickly got expelled by his body and he fell to his knees. He started rasping as he tried to get as much air back into his lungs as he physically could while at the same time, trying to heal his broken ribs.

"What a foolish mortal you are. The home is one thing but the sheer arrogance to even imply you could rebuild my gate annoys me more than anything else." Isadora said from towering above him. Her voice which had been so smooth and almost addicting to the hear was now sharp and pierced them like knives. Harry opened his eyes but didn't look. He concentrated on one thing only,

" _Fiendfyre._ " He spat out. Instead of the normal bestial fire spirit that would normally appear and begin to disintegrate everything in it's path, the dark red flames simply formed a protective ring around him. He sucked in a few more breaths before shakily getting to his feet. Harry looked and saw Isadora standing just a few steps outside his ring. He was just in time to watch her cut off her own left hand with her right which now had claws on it. As it fell, Harry saw it covered in the harsh red flames of his spell.

He had gotten her but only barely. She was now glaring at him through the flames and circled him as a predator would its prey.

"You have only prolonged the inevitable. You will not be able to keep this up forever and when you drop it, you will be mine." She hissed at him.

"I was not lying to you. I think that given enough time of research, I could rebuild your gate. It acts as a portal to the vampire's home world correct? I have experience with the manipulation and creation of portals with similar attributes. With enough time I should be able to lock onto your world and create another doorway there. I promise I have not lied to you and I know you can listen to my heart rate to be sure." Harry pointed out as he blocked out the pain of his body.

Isadora stopped her stalking and gazed at him. It had lost some of its edge but she still looked unhappy. It was quiet for a moment except for the cackling of the angry fire protecting him. He had to make sure his concentration did not slip for a moment or it would run wild.

"Very well, we have a deal. You find me a new home and build me a new gate and I will not slice your body into a million pieces after I suck you dry." Isadora said. They angry stalking animal she had become was gone and the beautiful tomboy was back and smiling at him.

Harry looked at her in shock. Could it really be that easy? He had expected a lot more convincing and perhaps even a demonstration of the skills and knowledge he claimed to have. She couldn't possibly just trust him with just his word backing him up. Was this a trap she was trying to set so he would lower his guard?

"How do I know you won't kill me the second I make the fire disappear?" Harry asked her. She smiled and once again disappeared. Suddenly he felt a cool pair of arms wrap around his neck in gesture that could almost be seen as a hug from behind. Harry jolted and tried to move but the arms kept him in place. He felt a presence next to his left cheek.

"Because I already figured out how to get past your silly fire a few moments ago." The voice whispered seductively into his ear. This is not how he had expected an Unseen Elder to be. He heard that they were cold and accepted nothing but the highest respect. A word out of place and you were dead. Isadora acted more like he expected normal high vampires to act. Almost like they were playing with their food constantly.

"I… See." Harry said tensely. It would appear she was not about to try and kill him yet that didn't seem to be helping his nervousness. A moment later, Harry killed the fire ring and felt the arms around his neck disappear.

"Now then, you will take me to your abode and I will stay there until you build me my new home. I pray for your sake you to it quickly." Isadora said as she smiled, now in front of him. Harry looked at her and processed her words.

"Right."

His mind raced. Could he bring her back to his settlement? Merri wouldn't be happy for sure and may try to stupidly kill Isadora which would only result in her own death. He could try to hide her in his home perhaps but he doubted she would comply with that. He had a feeling she was going to try and make his life miserable while she stayed with him. He could trap her perhaps. He was confidant that given enough time that he would be able to do so with some time and planning involved.

Then again, Unseen Elders had their own magic and he had no experience with it which could back to bite him if he tried something.

"Well?" Isadora's impatient voice dragged him out of his thoughts. He looked her over for a moment. For now, he would just take her to his home. He reached out his hand and gestured for her to take. She looked at it for a moment before proceeding to do so.

"I'll will transport us there. May I ask where you got those clothes you are wearing?" Harry asked he as he took another look at her attire. They weren't new for sure but the fashion of it was probably to new for her to have experienced with her living in her cave all the time.

"I needed a meal after I woke up and she was wearing this. The look appealed to me so I took it from her since she didn't need it anymore." Isadora replied with a smile. Harry grimaced for a moment before nodding.

"If you are ever hungry, drink from me and me alone. Do not prey on my citizens." Harry told her seriously. No matter how powerful she was, he would not risk bringing her into the heart of his city just so she could go on a rampage.

"Very well." Isadora agreed easily. Harry's eye twitched. There was something wrong with this situation he was sure of it. There was just no way a vampire of her level would be this agreeable. Could she be plotting something? If so, what could it possibly be. Vampires did not care for the world of humans more than occasionally using them as a food source. What could she possibly want that she was not already getting?

He pondered it no longer as he thought for a moment more before concentrating on his home and felt the familiar twist of apparition. When he opened his eyes, he was in the living room of the house he barely used. His magic was now almost completely exhausted and he could already feel his eyes drooping to a close.

"I need sleep. Please try to remain in the building." Harry said as he plopped heavily on to his couch and immediately drifted off to sleep.

Harry was immediately off in some sort of dreamscape. He sighed to himself in annoyance. Recently he had been dreaming of Ciri though he was convinced that they were less of dreams and more of visions on what she was up to. He wasn't sure at first, he was always pants when it came to divination but they matched up with some of the stories she had told him of her travels.

This seemed to be similar. Ciri was smiling at a table in what appeared to be a medieval castle. She was sitting and laughing next to a young man who seemed to be in a tunic with a sword on his waist. He dark blonde hair and light brown eyes. Harry squinted his eyes for a moment in thought before he figured out what was happening.

This must have been where she had met Galahad, one of King Arthur's knight of the round table. He had found out this was actually an alternative earth where magic was not present or most likely did not exist as Ciri had mentioned she could feel no trace of it there. Ciri had also told him he was a warm young man who was more honorable than any other she had ever met. He had been impressed at the time but was less so know.

They looked both happy and cozy as they talked and laughed together. Harry was getting annoyed, Harry was happy to be able to keep an eye on Ciri's progress but he didn't want to have to sit here and watch her get cozy at a table with this man. It was weird, and he couldn't place his finger on it. Watching the scene made him feel a burning sensation in his chest though. It wasn't like a fire or acid though… unlike anything he had felt in a very long time actually.

He tried to think about it but he could only remember that it had something to do with Gabriella. It had been so long though he could barely even remember what it was about. That whole relationship was kind of a blur for him.

He looked back at the scene and tried to force himself out of the vision to no avail. He didn't exactly have control of magic during these out of body experiences. Harry sighed and just leaned against the wall and waited.

The longer he was there the more annoyed he got. Why the hell was he still here? Ciri was safe and still traveling and that's all he needed to know. He didn't want to just watch her private time like some sort of creep.

Harry looked around and noticed something, this vision looked much clearer than any had ever had in the pass. The edges of his vision weren't fuzzy and it actually seemed to be getting clearer. Something wasn't right here. He started looking around and eyeing everything in the room to find some kind of clue as to what was happening.

He barely noticed it but he suddenly realized he could start feeling actual physical contact again. He scowled and looked at his hand. What the hell is going on here? Was he being dragged into the vision. He looked at Ciri as she smiled and talk with Galahad. Was she doing this subconsciously. How would that even be possible, he had not even met Ciri yet. That being said he had never heard Ciri mention anything like dragging people to her across dimensions and worlds.

A flicker caught his attention and Harry looked behind Ciri. There was something there. It almost looked like the air had moved behind her. A he noticed this he felt the familiar tingle of his magic return to him. That confirmed it, something was dragging his physical form to this place and he didn't think it was Ciri, at least not directly her. He walked around the table and moved behind Ciri. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on. He coated his hands with magic and reached out behind her and moved his hand in a waving motion to try and see if he could feel anything.

He felt his hand land on something and he wrapped around it on instinct. It felt solid yet not so. Almost like water that he couldn't sink into. As soon as he felt it, the tentacle like object in his hand tensed and became harder. It was going into Ciri, it felt like it was sucking something out of her. Her power and magic maybe. Either way it needed to go. He tugged on it hard and yanked it back. He felt it move away from her. He smirked but his victory was short lived.

He felt something wrap around heavy and think wrap around his waist and yank him backwards. It dragged him right through the castle walls. Luckily, he was still not solid so he went straight through. He landed on his back on the hard dirt. He got up and looked at whatever had grabbed him. It was weird, he couldn't see it but he could see it's outline in the air. It was see through yet still left a sort of impression. He tried to estimate and guessed it was probably the size of a large fiend and seemed to have large wiggling protrusions on his back. Perhaps then tentacles he had felt.

"So, you're the one messing with my friend. Impressive, you even managed to mimic her power. Unfortunately for you, you accidently dragged me here." Harry said stalling slightly as well as trying to see if the being was intelligent. He tried to feel out if he could recognize this creature but nothing came to mind. It was likely not of his world or Ciri's. It felt pretty powerful magically and judging by the fact that it was partially invisible then it might be related to a fiend. Fiends had no tentacles and could not suck the magic out of other beings. That means this creature was something even more powerful.

Harry looked at it as he heard it growl deeply at him. He then noticed that the being wasn't physically in this plane but close to it. He was something in between like Harry. That meant he could travel through different planes of existence. Harry squinted for a moment, a demon then. Demons were a pretty broad definition for creatures that could be either summon or travel on their own through different planes of existence. That being said, this was a true demon. Harry still remembered when Voldemort had summoned a low-tier one in the middle of the Ministry to kill him. He had beat it then when he was much less powerful but this one felt stronger. Probably a mid-tier demon if he was feeling it correctly. They didn't get fully sentient until they reached high-tier and anything above that could cause major troubles even for him.

Harry was cut from his thoughts as the being suddenly charged at him, tired of simply staring at one another. He tensed and got ready as the being quickly charged at him. He threw his hand and started his spell.

" _Abraxo zentil._ " He said as a golden spear of light materialized in front of him and shot towards the charging creature. Unfortunately for it, it was already too close to dodge and the spear went right through what Harry presumed was his head. sits legs collapsed under it as it died and slid closer and closer to him. He reached out his hand again and conjured a shield of magic which the body collided into, stopping it from running over Harry.

Soon the creature's invisibility dropped and its true body came into view. Harry's face scrunched up in disgust. It was black with gray slashes all over its body that Harry quickly concluded were battle scars. Lower level demons were usually very savage and only cared for causing misery and gaining power. Its face looked like it was similar to some weird hybrid of both a lion or tiger mixed with a wolf or bear. All it's teeth were all sharpened so it had no canines and they appeared blackened. Harry looked at the wound next at the top of his head and saw it was getting wider as all the tissue around the wound started dissolving.

Celestial magic was literally the complete opposite to that of demon magic, not because there was something holy about it and more just that it was they were what was known as opposite species and their bodies reacted badly when interacting with each other's magic. As far as he knew, both species chose to stay far away from each other since it was so easy to kill one another. Mutually assured destruction as it were. Even humans had what was known as an opposite species somewhere out there though he never had met them or heard of them. He wished he knew this magic the first time he had dealt with a demon but it didn't matter.

Soon the creature was almost done dissolving completely as Harry looked at it. He noticed his vision returning fuzzy and the familiar tingle of his magic was disappearing. He was becoming more astral. That must have meant the creature had been the one dragging him to this world and plane of existence. If it was sucking Ciri's power then it probably didn't know how to properly use them which explained why it had accidently dragged his astral figure onto a more physical plane. He didn't know that his visions actually meant he had some sort of presence in the place he was observing but he supposed it sort of made sense.

Harry felt his vision become blurrier until all he saw was light. This was the usual sign his vision was ending. He opened his eyes and came face to face with glowing orange ones. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared.

"Hello Isadora. May I help you with something?" Harry asked as calmly as he could to the powerful vampire.

"Something tried to drag your body to alternate plane while you slept. I held it back for a time but it seems you were able to deal with it. It must have been a powerful being to be able to do so." Isadora commented. Harry shook his head.

"The opposite actually. The being was a low leveled demon that stumbled on a power he could not fully control and accidently dragged me onto the plane it was residing on. I killed it easily enough though and returned the power from whence it came." Harry explained. Isadora smiled at him and harry felt the shivers creep up his spine once again.

"Most impressive. For a human, even with magic, it is impressive that you were able to kill a demon." Isadora commented. Harry gave a slight shrug.

"I don't know about that. I know some celestial magic so it was not a true battle. The demon was little more than an animal." Harry told her. She could hear his heartbeat so lying was a no go. Hiding the whole truth was easier. She didn't need to know about Ciri.

"I once fought several high-level demons during the Vampire-Demon wars several thousand years ago. It is how I earned a position as an Unseen Elder. I am the youngest one in all of history." Isadora explained with pride. Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Maybe that was why she was different from what he had heard of.

"Do you have something to say to me?" Isadora asked smoothly though Harry could hear the edge in her voice. Harry pondered how he should respond.

"I hope you don't take this as an insult but are you the standard of what Unseen Elders are like? I have heard some stories that painted them as more… strict." Harry asked her politely.

"I suppose not. Most are so old all they want to do is sleep and eat. If you bother them they try and kill you almost immediately. To be honest there annoying. If they weren't so powerful I'd say it would be better to kill most of them. Especially Raphael. God the man was so annoying. He looks like a walking corpse. Honestly, take a little pride in your appearance you god damn slob." Isadora trailed off as she scowled at the thought of the other Elder.

"He sounds unpleasant." Harry replied to her little rant as he sat up on his couch and started to look around.

"He is but at least he stays in his hole most of the time. I like to come out every hundred years or so to see what has changed with the world. Only way I don't just kill myself out of boredom. A few other Elders do the same I think." Isadora explained. Harry thought about that. So most Unseen Elders were old stuck up pricks but a few were more like Isadora. He guessed it made sense that there was some that were more… unique.

"Thank you for telling me. I will start on your home sometime this week and your portal within the next month or so. Is that fine with you?" Harry asked politely. Isadora smiled.

"You have one year to complete both. In the meantime, I think I will see this city that you've apparently made. It looks different from any I have seen before. I suppose it'll be like a vacation." Isadora said.

"Remember what I said about eating." Harry said giving her a pointed look. Isadora just smirked at him before leaving the room. Harry watched her go for a moment and sighed. His mind returned to his dream or vision. A creature had found Ciri and had tried to siphon off her magic and power without her even knowing. If one could do it then others could too. He needed to find a way to stop it and he needed to do so soon. Geralt was with Triss with no memory still from what Harry had heard so he would be no help. That left only one person he could discuss this with.

He needed to find Yennefer of Vengerberg.

 **Demon appearance is similar to that of a Displacer Beast in DnD except much bigger and more muscled.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Oh my god. Feels like forever since I was able to update anything. Sorry about the delay, schools been throwing shit at me rapid fire and I have just been trying to keep up. Hope**

 _5 months Later_

 _Harry's POV:_

Harry looked down in annoyance at the sorceress Yennefer in this small village in the empire of Nilfgaard. It had been annoying to track her down only to find that after four months of work, she was in the same boat as Geralt. He supposed that it made sense, Geralt had his memory destroyed but he for some reason thought Yennefer would be in a better position due to magic. If Harry suddenly lost his memory, he had ways to restore it through magic and potions. Of course, he could probably do it for Yennefer and Geralt but he would either have to kidnap them or find a way to convince them to come with him and let him experiment for possibly a year. Wasn't easy to sync potions to a new user after all.

Besides, as far as he could tell, their memories did seem to be coming back albeit slowly. He turned his eyes from Yennefer and over to the Nilfgaardian soldiers talking together. It was strange that there were soldiers here in this small village without there even being an outpost nearby. They built a small barracks when they had arrived and now lived there. The village didn't seem to mind but it did seem suspicious to Harry.

Why was there a random barracks with ten soldiers here except to possibly watch Yennefer? Sure, she didn't know who she was really, but anyone who knew of her would possibly recognize her. She still seemed to prefer black clothes and she still had her offsetting pride. Very recognizable.

He couldn't imagine why they would be keeping an eye on her if they were interested and not simply arresting her. Nilfgaard had a better relationship with magic users than the Northern Kingdoms at the moment but they tended to force them to do their bidding.

Harry sighed and let it go. He had put alert wards all over the village and on Yennefer herself. He had also made an international portkey to make sure he could get there instantly without having to use ass loads of energy like apparating would. Ever since his experience with Isadora he made sure he had exit strategies that didn't rely on his current amount of magic. Although he did genuinely feel bad for Isadora and would not have made the Dragon Pass through her home had he known it was there.

With that, he activated the portkey back to his tower feeling like the last few months of research on where Yennefer was had been a waste of time.

 _1 month later_

Harry stared at the little entourage standing in front of him. All serious men staring at him and one smaller nervous one in fine clothing. The rest where soldiers and all where in heavy armor. Harry was unimpressed with the group. His soldiers who were surrounding the room for his 'protection' didn't seem that impressed either. Harry wasn't the strongest swordsman but he had a pretty heavy Skelligan who trained them. They were both skilled and savage in combat. Harry also made sure all his soldiers received standard equipment and training unlike most kingdoms who would only train men at arms but not their peasant soldiers.

"You want me to give my land and holdings as well as the Dragon Pass to Velhad because your duke thinks that despite never having access to it, all land beyond the Dragon Mountains should be his. He now also sends a pathetic little envoy to try and intimidate me. It sounds like your declaring war on me, is that analysis accurate?" Harry asked calmly as he continued to both chill the room and put a heavy magical pressure into the air around his guest. The soldiers were better at hiding it but the messenger was not. He seemed to unconsciously shiver every few moments and wipe his forehead with a handkerchief. A little mousy man with black string like hair and a small build.

"Not war my lord. Duke Lambcast offers you vassalage under him. You will gain a lordship and…"

"You mean King Esterad. I am no fool, I am aware the man simply wishes to have plausible deniability in case his little plan fails. He wishes to test me and my capabilities. I have expected this. There will be no arrangement. Go back to your duke, tell him I will be there in a week from today and we shall have war." Harry said to the messenger. Immediately the man paled and the soldiers behind him started shuffling around. The messenger gulped and bowed his head before quickly departing. Harry watched him go.

Merri had stood silently at his side during the whole exchange. As the group filed out of the room she moved in front of him and stared at him with questions clear in her eyes. He made a gesture with his hands and the soldiers in the room left as well. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a seat for her and she took it.

"I'm confused." She stated.

"About what?" Harry questioned though he was pretty sure he had a good idea.

"Why are we going to invade Velhad? We control the Dragon Pass, we know the mountains and the lands on this side of it. It would be easier to defend then attack would it not? Also, we only have 300 men at arms now. That's not enough to go against Kovir and Poviss." She pointed out.

"I will use the dragons. It's why I have them in a first place. You would not be scared of an enemy who had a weapon but did not know or want to use it. I need to show I am willing and able to use them and this a perfect opportunity. Although, I doubt they even believe we have them. They came one of the few times the dragons were out hunting so they probably did not see them. Still, invading will not be a problem. Do you know what the true issue will be?" Harry asked. Merri thought on and stayed silent for a time.

"Holding it?" She asked. Harry smiled and was pleased she got it correct.

"Indeed. Dragons are an amazing conquering tool but once you have the land, they are practically useless. 300 men can't hold Velhad and even if they could, that would leave Avalon defenseless. So, if you were in my shoes, knowing what I could do and my resources, what would you do?" Harry asked her. Again, Merri dipped her head down in thought as she tried to imagine what he could do.

"Threaten maybe? You don't need to actually have the dragons there but if you show them the dragons and threaten them to follow, I'm sure they would." She pointed out.

"Yes and no. That would work for many of the common folk but there will be some that are smart enough to realize the dragons can't be around forever. They will scheme and plot and possibly even turn to guerilla tactics against me. I can't have that, nor would I want it even if I could. There is a simpler option that you are not realizing." Harry said to her. Her eyebrows scrunched up in annoyance.

"Well stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me already." She demanded. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"Look around you. Look at what I have already built. Why do you think so many people chose to come here to live? Why do you think we have already started getting a flow of immigrants from the Northern kingdoms? It's because I treat them better than anyone else. They live elsewhere and pay ridiculous taxes to some lord or king for protection that they barely provide. Here, there is more. Their lives are easier. They don't have to worry about their next meal. They pay taxes but there paying taxes for services I give in return. Housing, land, crops, livestock. All this I gave them. I treat them with a kindness they have never been given." Harry finished.

"So, you're going to give them things then?" Merri asked for clarification. Harry nodded.

"In a manner of speaking yes. I prove myself a more benevolent ruler and the peasants won't need to be controlled. They will prefer my rule to that of their previous rulers." Harry told her.

"And if they spit on your kindness?" she asked

"Then they no longer receive it. I give all a chance but never ask me for more than that." Harry said as a noticeable frost entered his voice.

"What a vampiric way of thinking." A sweet voice floated into the air. Despite its sweetness, both Harry and Merri tensed upon hearing it. Harry looked to the door and watched as Isadora glided over to them.

"Isadora." Harry said as a welcome. The vampire just smiled back at him. Merri's eye twitched upon seeing it but she said nothing.

"I hope I am not interrupting. I came to simply inquire on the status of the little project you were doing for me." She said innocently. Harry calmed himself.

"It is going well. Your home has been built and the physical structure of the gate has been as well. All that is left is for me to find a way to link it back to your home world." Harry told her. In truth, that was the hardest part. Portal gateways were easy enough, getting them to go to a specific world was a lot harder, especially as he had never been there before. He didn't want to admit it but he had been delaying the project. He was probably going to need some of Isadora's blood and he wasn't exactly keen on asking her for some. She might kill him before he could finish the question. He really needed to figure out a way to hold his own against her.

"That's good to hear, I look forward to seeing it soon." She said before disappearing before their eyes.

"I hate it when she does that. When are you going to teach me to kill one of them?" Merri asked.

"Soon as I figure out how to do so myself." Harry grumbled in annoyance. He then looked at Merri.

"Gather 150 of our men and start heading to Velhad. By the time you get there I should be done uprooting the local nobility. We need to show we have an actual army. You will basically go village to village and let them know they are under new management." Harry said. Merri frowned.

"King Esterad isn't going to like that."

"Then he shouldn't have decided to target my kingdom." Harry shot back.

"You're planning to take over all of Kovir and Poviss then?" she questioned with uncertainty.

"Yes, only because I doubt Esterad will let what I have done stand and will want to strike back very quickly. We will have to move faster than him. Once we take Velhad, I will go to each village and gather their leaders. I will then have them vote in an administrator for their province who will represent their Kingdom on my advisory council. Then the integration process will begin. We will be surrounded on all sides so I will strike hard to send a message after Velhad if Esterad pushes me." Harry finished.

"Sounds like a lot of work. Will the other Kingdoms not retaliate?"

"Possibly if Esterad calls for help, he did help them in the Northern Wars when he didn't have to and some of the other rulers may seek to pay him back should he ask but I do not intend to give him time to ask. Esterad is smart but he is also proud. He will not ask for help until he is sure that he needs it. Hopefully by then it will be too late." Harry explained, "Either way, prepare the men. One week and we march on Velhad."

 _1 Week Later_

Harry stood on the back of the biggest White Dragon he had with a sticking charm as it flew in small circles several thousand feet above the ground. Had anyone looked up they probably wouldn't even see them considering the dragon was making use of its natural camouflage abilities. Harry looked down and saw the small castle they he would be destroying soon. Just outside the castle were probably around 200 men at arms waiting to move out on their Duke's command to attack his home. They all had colors so he assumed there were no mercenaries in the small army.

Harry made a small grunt as he looked at the target. He would have to keep a strong hold on the dragon's actions as he only wanted to destroy the keep and not the small village surrounding it. He would try to avoid the army as well. They would possibly submit easily once their lord was dead.

"Alright, time to go to work." Harry told the dragon. Immediately, the dragon closed its wings and started a controlled freefall towards the keep. Harry made sure to dive bomb as a well-placed Ballista shot could injury the dragon and he had forgotten to check the keep for them. He conjured a shield to block the wind blowing into his face as his dragon dived down towards the keep.

With the dragon in freefall, the keep approached insanely fast. It was a bright sunny day so the dragons shadow eventually started covering the keep forcing those in it to look up to see his large reptilian companion. Close to when they approached the ground, the dragon reopened its wings and immediately slowed its fall and entered into a glide. As it glided past the keep it unleased its first breath of its freezing breath.

Harry heard yells of panic that turned into brief cries of pain. The dragon performed a sharp turn and unleashed another torrent of ice onto the keep almost covering the entire thing in it. During this turn, Harry jumped off and slowed his momentum until he landed softly on the floor. He looked around and saw what looked like frozen statues of people all around the small courtyard. They were stuck in various positions ranging from cowering in fear to trying to run in a certain direction. Most of them appeared to be soldiers but some appeared to be civilians. He sighed

Harry walked up the stairs to the noble quarters and blasted the ice-covered door wide open. The inside was just as frozen as the outside probably due to the open window the room had. He saw two statues. And approached them. With a wave of his hand, the ice melted off and two bodies fell to the ground clearly dead. Both were dressed in noble wear, one a female and one a male. He kicked the male body over so Harry could see his face. He had only seen Lambcast once before but this seemed to be him if his memory was correct. With that, he grabbed the body and threw it over his shoulder before apparating outside the castle and near where he saw the small army earlier. Once on the hill he calmly walked up to the encampment where he saw the men looking on in horror at the castle before spotting him.

Five men stood at the front of the crowd and watched his approach. When he got ten meters from them, he dropped Lambcast's body on the floor. The men looked down at the lord. Three of them had to look away at the sight.

"Your Duke is dead. Surrender and there need not be more death today. You cannot defeat my dragon and even if you could, I have my army marching here ready to finish what I started. I shall not punish you for rallying against me if you declare yourselves under my rule." Harry told them. One of the men stepped forward and glared at him.

"You kill our duke and expect us to just give you our loyalty just like that? You're a fool. Even if you have killed our duke, King Esterad will never let this stand unanswered. He will rally his armies against you." The man who stepped forward said to him.

"And they will fall as well. I have five dragons and an army. I will win against them, this I promise. The man you served tried to take something that wasn't his just because he thought he could. He paid for his greed, there is no reason you must also pay for it. I give you this chance and that is all I will give you. You do not have to answer now. My men arrive in three days, give me your answer then. If you choose to flee I will assume you have chosen to stand against me." Harry said to them before turning around and getting ready to make his way to the village.

"Wait."

Harry turned and looked at the man. The man drew his sword and pointed it at him. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I have heard tales of you. You are supposedly some sort of sorcerer. Let's see if the sorcerer has any honor. You and I duel right now. If you win, I will accept your terms and submit to your rule. If I win you leave these lands and will not return." The man said with a scowl. Harry stared at the man for a moment. He knew he was not the most skilled fighter but he had also taken steps to make sure he had a distinct advantage in fights by using the new enhanced Witcher potions he had made. He could move faster and was stronger than most men.

"I will need a sword." Was all Harry said in response to him. The man turned and nodded at a younger boy who was probably his squire. The boy ran over to him nervously and pulled out his sword to give to him.

"Thank you." Harry said kindly as he gingerly took the sword and started to weigh it in his hand. It wasn't as heavy as he remembered it being and it looked well-made and taken care of. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Shall we?" Harry asked as he raised the sword to his opponent. The knight raised his sword above his head and moved slowly towards Harry. Harry simply started to circle the man. For a few moments nothing, they simply stared at each other. Finally, the knight moved to strike. He got in close with the sword raised above his head but just before he got into striking range, he moved it down to try and strike upwards at Harry. Harry took one step back as the sword came in and took a step forward as soon as it passed and went for a stab. The man didn't have time to bring his sword to block it so he stepped to the side just fast enough to dodge it. Harry had moved faster than he did predictably but the man clearly had experience with combat and was ready for retaliation.

Harry continued to say nothing as they went back to circling each other. A few moments passed before the knight lunged again. This time though, Harry stepped in to meet him throwing the man off balance as he was going for a swipe. He raised his leg and kicked the man in the chest knocking him backwards. The man stumbled and looked to be about to fall over before catching himself and getting his feet back under him.

This time, Harry moved to strike, he pushed forward towards the man and tried a series of strikes. The man blocked the first three but it clearly wasn't easy with Harry's strength. Harry switched to a stab and watched his blade smash into the man's armor pushing him to the ground. The man fell back but went into a roll as he hit the ground to gain some distance from Harry. He stood up and charged Harry.

Now, Harry was back on the defensive as he had to make sure to block all of the man's strikes since he was not wearing armor himself. One strike would hurt him quite a bit. As Harry blocked a strike to his left side, he didn't see the knight get in close and slam his helmet into his head. The blow knocked him back several feet and dazed him. The next thing he knew, he felt a sharp pain coming from his shoulder. His vision cleared and he saw the sword buried into him.

Harry snarled and kicked the man back forcing him to pull the sword out of Harry's shoulder. Harry looked at his shoulder and silently cast a numbing charm on it. The pain subsided but he gritted his teeth in annoyance anyways.

He had no more time to think about it as the knight came charging at him once more to take advantage of his weakened state. Harry growled quietly as he saw this and decided on something unconventional. He waited as the man approached until he got in striking distance, he then dropped to his knees and dove at the knight's knees.

It worked perfectly as he collided right into the knight's legs and forced the knight into the air. He did a full flip before landing heavily on his back with a groan. Harry got up quickly and had a blade at the man's throat before he could even think about getting up.

"Yield." Harry commanded as he looked down on the man. The man looked up at him but said nothing. He was clearly thinking on his options.

"You fought honorably and now it is time to keep your word honorably." Harry said as he lowered his sword and offered the man his hand to help him up. The man looked at his hand for a moment then back up at him. After a moment of silence, he took the outstretched hand. Harry pulled him up back to his feet.

"Never thought I'd meet a sorcerer fight with honor in my lifetime." The knight said begrudgingly.

"I never thought I'd let a knight put his goddamn sword through my shoulder so this has been a surprising day for all of us." Harry said to the knight. The knight couldn't help himself as he let out a soft chuckle at Harry's words.

"Too true I suppose. Well, I am a man of my word. We will accept your rule. Velhad is yours." The knight said though he still did not sound happy about it.

"Do not worry, in time you will see this is a good thing, that I promise. I apologize we had to meet in such circumstances though. I know it's never easy to lose a ruler. I will treat the people fairly I promise." Harry said to the knight. The knight at least seemed pleased at his words.

"Only time will tell if you speak the truth. Duke lambcast was never the best ruler but he didn't take advantage of his people which is a hell of a lot better than most." He said as he moved back to his men. With that, Harry moved back to go to the village. He needed to implement the second part of his plan.

 _2 Weeks Later_

"You're an absolute idiot." Merri said as she looked at Harry's newest scar. Harry just smiled at her words.

"Perhaps but it worked. I got the army from the one battle and that's worth a little scar. It means less resistance and now the size of the overall army is doubled." Harry told her.

"How do you know you can trust them?"

"I am currently monitoring their attitudes and plans through magical means of course. They live here so they don't really have a choice but to work with the person who currently has control over it. They could go and support Esterad, and some of them will, but many will stay and see how this plays out. I did show up on a dragon. That tends to stick in one's mind. I would never just trust a former enemy. Technically speaking, Lambcast had no heir or relatives as he was appointed so they have no other they are required to be loyal to after his death. Besides, it was not like he was the best ruler anyway. High taxes and pretty much let bandits do whatever so he could drink and whore his way to an early death. Many are probably glad for his death." Harry said back.

"If you say so. I dealt with those captured spies today. You were right, Esterad has heard what has happened here and is gathering his forces to attack us. While the various keeps have currently declared themselves for you, they will jump ship as soon as they see Esterad's forces on the horizon. We need to strike soon if we don't want to fight on multiple fronts." Merri told him. Harry nodded at her assessment. He reached onto the desk he had had been using for the past two weeks in the keep that Lambcast used to use and pulled out some papers.

"Here are the various decrees that will be going into effect now. Lower taxes, improved farming, etc. Make sure it's spread to all the villages as quickly as possible. Also, make sure the village leaders pick a representative before the end of the next week. My patience is wearing thin with their petty arguing." Harry told her. Merri looked over the various decrees for a moment before nodding.

"As you wish. After that, I'm going back to Avalon. I don't trust Asal alone without either of us there." Merri stated.

"A good idea, he has already tried break in to my private quarters twice while we've been gone. He hasn't succeeded but still. Plus, you need to take charge of the administrator duties while I am away. Make sure there is no discontent between the people." Harry told her. Merri was the official representative of the people of the Far North even when that really only meant Avalon.

That would probably change soon though as some of the settlers wished to go back to a village lifestyle as the city was not for them. Harry had allowed and they were currently in the process of building structures for housing and work. Harry would go at some point at ward the villages once they were finished.

"I hate desk work." Merri groaned.

"Do you think I like it? Of course I don't, but it needs to be done to keep the kingdom running. With Velhad now added, we have close to nine thousand citizens present day and it's probably going to keep rising. You can be sure those new citizens are going to want to go somewhere and start complaining about their problems and I have a war to fight." Harry told her. She sighed and shook her head in exasperation.

"Fine, I'll head back. What are you going to do in the mean time? I know you're not actually going to fight a war the whole time."

"I'm going to go to the villages and start casting wards on them. Then, I am going to start developing better roads. Next, is to develop outpost along the roads to allow for patrolling to discourage bandits. So, I will be keeping myself busy while I wait for Esterad to gather his forces." Harry told her. Merri stopped leaning against the desk and stood fully before downing a shot of alcohol that Harry had completely forgotten was even there once she had originally entered the room.

"Alright, I am out of here." Merri said as she walked out with the papers in hand to go get her work done so she could leave.

Harry dropped his smile as she left and immediately conjured a map that showed all the northern kingdoms and even parts of Nilfgaard. The true problem with conquering Velhad and probably Kovir and Poviss was that he would now be considered a Northern Kingdom and things in the Northern Kingdoms weren't going so great at the moment. His main concern was the Church of the Eternal Fire. Religious Zealots would be annoying to deal with and he had no idea how he would have to deal with them. They viewed their beliefs higher than law and that made them dangerous.

Another concern was Nilfgaard. Harry was sure that Emhyr was planning another invasion and soon. He couldn't take on all the Northern Kingdoms though as proven with the first Northern Wars. He would need to find a way to destabilize the rulers or turn them against each other. There were a lot of ways he could do that and from what his little birds reported. Emhyr already had something in mind.

Even if he didn't know about all this from his spy's, he could feel it in the air. Something was going to happen soon, he just knew it. He needed to finish this petty feud with Esterad quickly and get settled and ready.

Silently, he called out a summoning to the remaining dragons he had left in Avalon. He hadn't meant to use them all against Esterad but he would need them to stomp on the conflict in one move. Either Esterad would submit or he would die. The soldiers would be given the same choice.


	13. Chapter 13

Harry stood on a hill in thought. Esterad's, forces were finally gathered and would start marching on him tomorrow. He was in Velhad though, reaching Esterad would be no issue on dragon back. No, the real issue was a problem he had not yet considered. The armies of Esterad were from all his various territories and if he burned them, many of said territories would be undefended. He didn't have the forces to supplement the dead. Of course, he could assassinate Esterad but then there would be the issue of the man dying right before he showed up. As a sorcerer, he would already be viewed with suspicion and the death of their monarch said suspicion would only increase the mistrust.

Harry sighed as thought further on the matter. Perhaps, if he made the death public and made it look natural then there would be less suspicion upon him. Maybe he slipped while drunk and then knocked his head against a table. If it was at a feast among all his lords, which he would probably be doing tonight with the various lords under him, no one could rightly say he had done anything. He could apparate there tonight and do the deed. Then he could show up tomorrow on dragon back and force the nobles to submit to him. With their king dead, many if not all the lords would be willing to submit to him.

Of course, Esterad had a son. Tankred, if he was remembering the boy's name correctly. From what he heard, he was a studious young child under the teachings of a mage known as Sheala de Tancarville. Harry had liked what he had heard of the woman, she was devoted to research and her own studies rather than trying to manipulate rulers. Perhaps she could be useful to him.

"Your grace." A voice behind him said. Harry calmly turned around and looked at the man who had entered his temporary office. It was Sir Steffon. He was the man who Harry had fought several weeks ago to win the loyalty of most of Velhads men at arms. He had been true to his word and his men followed him loyally as well. Of course, there had been some deserters but that was expected.

"Sir Steffon, I take it the preparations to move out are done?" Harry asked the man. Despite the dragons, Harry was also taking three hundred of the men against Esterad. Mainly for show, he didn't expect them to actually fight or anything. By the time they got there, everything should be over.

"The preparations are done and we will move out tomorrow… I take it we will only arrive to secure your rule after the dragons go in?" Sir Steffon asked him, he could hear the tinge of nervousness from the man though he hid it well in his gruff voice.

"Correct. I don't plan to have the men actually fighting, the dragons should be good enough. Anyways, it is starting to get late. Make sure you and the men are well rested for tomorrow. I will see you in the morning Sir Steffon." Harry said as the man nodded at him. They both exited the room, Sir Steffon, to the barracks and Harry to his private chambers. He quickly locked the door behind him and blew out all the lights. With that, he closed his eyes and started to concentrate. Within a moment, he felt the pull of apparition and the sudden stop as he landed on his feet. He opened his eyes and looked outwards.

He stood inside an alley in the Kovir winter capital, Lan Exetor. It was the city/castle that Esterad would be launching his forces from. Him and his various lords would be in the city's keep. The city itself was actually quite beautiful. It almost reminded him of a more primal, medieval, Venice from his home world. Small rivers weaved through the town and it certainly had a beautiful charm to it. It also had the fact that it was a winter town which combined with the river city's other qualities gave it a winter wonderland feel to it.

Harry waved his hand over his face and if anyone looked then they would have seen his face turn rounder and his hair turn to a sandy blonde. His clothes changed to simple trousers and a plain long-sleeved shirt. The final touch was the random splotches of dirt he put on his skin. Now he would blend in with any other peasants.

With that done, he started walking through the peaceful city. It was night and barely anyone was out tonight. Despite this, you could almost feel the tension in the air. It was probably due to the army of five thousand men sitting outside the city walls waiting to march out tomorrow.

Harry ignored this and kept moving quietly through the streets and started to suppress his magical presence both physically and through various charms to make sure Sheala did not get a sense of him. He knew she was powerful and anyone who researched magic as much as she did, most likely, knew a few ways of detection.

Eventually, he entered to where the keep was and was forced to cast a Notice-Me-Not charm to make sure the soldiers patrolling would not see him. It seemed to work as he was able to walk right across the courtyard. When he finally reached the door, he cast a simple alohomora on the door and entered inside the keep. At this point, Harry had to be very careful on how he continued. One slip up and Sheala would be on him. It seemed she was currently in a tower and not joining the various lords and her King for the feast.

Harry put such thoughts to the side as he continued to travel through the unknown hallways, following the loud noises coming from the main hall. He closed in on the hall and finally found the entrance. Instead of going into it though, Harry pushed past and decided to find the kitchen. It would also have an entrance to the hall except it would be much closer to the head table which meant less chance for Harry to be detected. It wasn't hard as there was quite a bit of noise coming from the kitchen as well.

He slid into the room silently and saw that there was still a lot of work going on. It still wasn't too late into the night, barely 7:30 if he remembered correctly. He made sure not to touch anyone for fear his charms to keep him hidden would fail. He paused for a moment and looked at all the food and wine in the room constantly moving around. It was so tempting to put a curse or two in the various items but if anything to suspicious happened then it would be believed he had some sort of hand in it and that would certainly not endear him to the lords he wanted to conquer.

He moved to the door he saw several servants going through with food and beverages. He stepped through it when no one was coming and was now in a wide-open room that was most definitely the main room. The room was full with tables and men cheering and laughing about something or another. Harry looked to the head table but surprisingly found the head table's main seat to be empty. Where the hell was Esterad?

He spent several minutes trying to listen to conversations from a corner to see if one would spill where their King was. Unfortunately, Harry did not once hear any mention about where he currently was only some mentions of his possible plans to go up against Harry. There seemed to be a few who were actually thinking on it, especially since it had been confirmed he had dragons. Not exactly something an army could fight conventionally.

Harry finally tuned out and stepped back out of the room with annoyance. He was not familiar with Esterad's signature yet so he couldn't personally track down the man. He could try to use a tracking charm but Sheala might be able to block it or even pinpoint his location if he cast it. It was, after all, a charm that worked by sending magic outwards instead of on his person like his own charms. He grunted before wandering about around the castle. Maybe the man had gone to bed early. That wasn't ideal, he wouldn't be able to kill him then but perhaps he could do something to weaken him physically for the battle tomorrow.

He moved down a hallway and towards a stairway before quietly climbing up. He walked around until he found where he thought the bedrooms would be. He looked under the door and saw only shadows, he then unlocked the door and opened it quietly. He slid silently inside and closed the door behind him. He turned back and slowly moved towards the bed.

He only took four steps before suddenly a snapping noise broke the silence of the room and suddenly there was light. Several candles as well as a fireplace suddenly set themselves alight. What really caught his eye was the man sitting in a chair by the fireplace with a woman standing behind him, both were looking directly at him. Harry crushed down all feelings and shock and surprise as he looked at them and simply raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it seems I need to learn a few more tricks to hide my presence." Harry commented lightly as he thought of several ways to salvage the situation. Perhaps a memory charm on both? Of course, he would have to overpower them and he doubted Sheala would go down easy or quietly.

"On the contrary, I set up several wards to try and detect your presence yet I only knew you were here when you finally entered the room. I know very few sorcerers who could get past such protections even if they were hastily put up." The woman who he assumed was Sheala based on her youthful appearance and strange yet slightly provocative outfit. Harry looked at her, she didn't look she was about to attack him. The man sitting finally decided to speak.

"My sorceress, Sheala, advised that… we talk. She has expressed the thought that should I go to battle with you, me and all my forces will be vanquished with ease, even if I could defeat your dragons. Though I have to say, I expected something…different as far as your appearance went." Esterad said calmly yet had a firmness in his tone. Harry rolled his eyes before waving his hand over his face and dispelling the illusion.

"Ah." Was all Esterad said once greeted with his true appearance.

"So, you wish to negotiate? I must be honest, I never thought you would be smart enough too. I have heard you to be wise as far as Kings go but the fact you chose to try and seize my kingdom from me seemed to go against such rumors. What do you wish to offer knowing that I can basically destroy you and your army with a snap of my fingers?" Harry asked after finishing his observations. Esterad frowned but Sheala put her hand on his shoulder and this seemed to calm him.

"You are correct. It was foolish of me to attempt take on a man who single handedly created his own kingdom, including the dragon pass. I should have, at the very least, better researched you. Unfortunately, I thought you an easy target and would be willing to submit to my rule. I completely discounted your dragons as hearsay and barely knew anything of your power. Sheala tells me… your something of a legend among sorcerers." Esterad said as he eyed Harry warily. Harry smirked slightly before biting it back.

"I see. Well, here is my point of view. Your subjects walked into my kingdom and basically tried to take advantage of me. My first instinct was to crush you completely to make sure no other kingdom would ever try. However, on further thought, I decided to conquer you instead. I felt there was no need to kill all those under you for your mistakes. If you do want to talk negotiations, then I am still walking away with control of Kovir and Poviss. Come to terms with that." Harry told him with a bored expression. He knew the man would not accept. It was a lot to hand over an entire kingdom to your enemy.

As he predicted. Esterad glared at the demand and made to stand from his chair but, again, Sheala put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him. She looked at him with a calculating gleam in her eye. Before looking down at Esterad.

"My king, I would remind you that you attacked one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world and the fact that you and I are alive at this moment is only by his mercy. Besides, he has given us a chance to salvage this terrible situation." Sheala pointed out smartly. Harry tilted his head at her curiously. While the legend part from earlier may have been true, it was not known his own true power level. Yet, despite the lack of knowledge, Sheala seemed quite sure of her words. He wondered why she would think such a thing of him. It was most likely the truth but he was curious how she came to such a conclusion.

"You seem quite well informed of me Lady Sheala. For someone who goes through such lengths for secrecy, it is quite curious that you do." Harry commented though tried to keep any threat out of the question. He was more curious than anything else after all.

"I have done my fair share of research on you. It was one of my main cases of study before settling in Kovir and Poviss under King Esterad. You are quite well traveled, King Hadrian." She said using his official title. Harry eyed her and thought on what she said. It was rare to hear of sorcerers going to such lengths to find information on him but he supposed it was only a matter of time before someone did.

"I see, impressive. Your king sees no benefits to my conditions. What do you think?" Harry asked now questioning her. Esterad seemed eager to see how she would salvage the situation as well.

"Well, I would like to clarify, what do you mean by control of Kovir and Poviss?" Sheala asked.

"It means Kovir and Poviss will be part of my kingdom and ultimately submit to my rule." Harry responded back. He was pretty sure he could already see where she was going with this.

"Ultimately?" she asked again with a raised eyebrow.

"Ultimately." Harry confirmed with a nod.

"I see. Well what about a solution where everyone gets what they want. King Esterad can still rule over Kovir and Poviss but the kingdom itself will be a margraviate that is under your rule." Sheala offered. Harry smirked internally but said nothing. Esterad did not seem happy about the suggestion.

"That is your plan? That I give this man my entire kingdom? Perhaps I was wrong to listen to your advice after all Sheala." Esterad shouted as he finally stood up. Sheala did not seem too upset by the way the conversation was going. In fact, she hadn't moved even with Esterad now glaring down at her.

"My King, my goal is to keep you alive first and in some form of power second. If you cannot agree with this man then the ones who suffer are not just you but your wife, Lady Zuleyka, and your son Tankred. King Hadrian will most likely have to kill them to stop any of your future progeny from taking back control. This way keeps you both in power and your family alive." Sheala explained both calmly and smartly to the man.

"So, I just roll over to this man? Is that what you wish?" Esterad demanded still glaring down at her. It was at this point that Sheala finally glared back.

"If you recall, I advised you not to try and threaten the man in the first place. Despite my advice, you did so anyways and we are now in this situation. So yes, if you want you and your family to live, I advise you to 'roll over' as you so eloquently put it and not let your pride be the death of your family. Or don't listen to what I have to say, again, and simply face the consequences." Sheala said as she stepped back and looked at the man.

Harry was impressed with the way she talked to her King. It took a strong person to stand up to someone of authority and tell them that they were wrong, made a mistake, or both. Sheala seemed to show her ability to do all three. Such a trait could be useful to him.

Esterad looked at her for a moment before seeming to back down as he realized the situation he was in. He turned around and looked at Harry. Harry simply raised his eyebrow at the man.

"Would these terms be acceptable for you then?" Esterad asked begrudgingly. Harry smiled.

"Just a slight tweak. Kovir and Poviss will be a Protectorate of the Avalonian kingdom, that's the name of my kingdom by the way. It ties it more than margraviate does. It won't mean that much difference. Esterad, I will leave you to run Kovir and Poviss. The more loyalty you show, the more control I shall give you. The less loyalty… well, I'll let you figure it out on your own." Harry told him as he looked the man in the eyes. Esterad said nothing before nodding slowly and stomping towards the door. Harry watched him open it and leave before looking at Sheala who still stood and stared at him.

"Well, that was anticlimactic. I was expecting much more resistance from the man. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that would you?" Harry asked as he looked at the woman. Mind magic was not something very well practiced in this world and was often times messy. It did, however, seem strange that Esterad seemed so ready to cave to his demands.

"It is not you or I who truly made the difference, it is his wife. She also counseled him to not poke a sleeping dragon that they knew nothing about and he did not listen. Then, in one day, you took over an entire territory and seemed to manage to win the allegiance of much of the people there. Esterad regrets letting his own ambition cloud his judgement and hates himself for not listening to his wife when he had the chance. Now, so close to combat, he will do anything he can to keep her and his line safe, even if it means bending the knee to an enemy." Sheala explained to him.

Harry thought on it and nodded. He supposed it made sense, though he was surprised by the love Esterad had for his wife. Most marriages in this world with nobles were arranged and often times loveless. That he cared and considered her opinion so highly spoke volumes of their relationship.

"And the whole waiting in the room bit?" Harry asked as he sat in a chair opposite of the one Esterad himself had been sitting in. Sheala smoothly took the other the motion caused her already tight dress to cling to her even tighter. He wondered if the move was on purpose.

"I figured you would wish to try something tonight and properly prepared for such a thing." She spoke evenly. Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing further on it.

"It's quite impressive this ability of yours to appear somewhere else. Even now, I sense you in the tower across the keep yet you stand here in front of me." Harry said letting his question hang in the air. Sheala smiled with pride. She reached down her cleavage and pulled up an amulet attached to a thin chain he had not initially seen. It was golden and circular with a beautifully cut amulet in the middle of it. The gold band had several runes in elven and Harry would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed by the complexity of it.

"I made this rather recently. It projects my presence in a designated location of my choosing to help me avoid those who would try to track me through magic. Not that many try such a thing but I was curious if it were possibly to do so and achieved it." Sheala explained proudly. Harry nodded as he listened. That must have been some complex magical. More impressive due to the fact that the projection did not seem to have a trace back to its caster, that was something he had not yet encountered before.

"Very impressive Lady Sheala. You know if I didn't know any better, I would say you looked familiar. We haven't met before have we?" Harry asked as he took his eyes off the amulet and back to her face. He had a very good memory and something about her face had a familiarity to it. More likely he knew someone related to her then her herself.

"Yes, we've met before." She said matter-of-factly. Harry's eyebrows shot up. He immediately tried to rack his brain trying to remember if he encountered Sheala before. It's not like he ever really interacted much with other sorcerers and sorceresses. After racking his brain, he could still not remember where he had seen her, even with the help of occlumency.

"I am afraid I don't recall. Can you refresh my memory?" Harry asked politely.

"It is not surprising. When we met, I was just a little girl, long before I became a sorceress. No, at the time, I was just the poor daughter of a farmer who just watched her father and mother killed in front of her by common bandits looking for gold that we didn't have. They were going to rape me, I remember them speaking of how they were going to take turns with me. That's when you showed up. I remember thinking you some sort of vengeful god with the way you simply appeared and seemed to almost glow with power. You killed each one of them painfully if I remember correctly. You used spells that I don't recognize to this day." Sheala explained as she gained a far away look in her eyes. Harry frowned as she recounted her story.

He did vaguely remember doing such a thing many many years ago. In truth, he had done similar things many times back in those days. It was before he had truly started manipulating and making plans. He had nothing to do except go around and try and help people. It's how his reputation first came about.

The incident with Sheala in particular wasn't special in his head as one might think. He remembered simply coming upon the scene and murdering the bandits in anger for what they had done. He did remember the girl and could see the similarities in the woman now in front of him.

"I took you to an orphanage in Oxenfurt after that. You couldn't have been more than seven. Once I dropped you off, I remember going back to bury your parents. I remember burying them together under the large tree next to their home." Harry said as he reminisced sadly on that. Another incident where he was just a little too late. He knew better to blame himself but such a thought could only help so much. He had long since stopped paying attention to what he couldn't save and instead on what he could.

"Yes." Sheala said slowly with a nod, "You knew the caregiver there and left several coin bags to help support me at the orphanage. I used it to help get an education. I then eventually got an apprenticeship with another sorceress and was trained in the mystic arts. I wished to one day be as powerful as you." Sheala said with a smirk as if remembering something amusing.

"Well you didn't do to bad for yourself in that regard. You are one of the most powerful sorcerers known in the Northern Realms if not the world." Harry responded easily.

"Yes, and yet I have a feeling I still have not even scratched the surface of your power and knowledge in magic. In fact, I doubt I ever will now that I know what you are capable of so many years later." Sheala told him slyly. Harry said nothing, he simply stood up.

"I suppose it is time for me to take my leave then. I will arrive tomorrow officially to obtain Esterad's surrender. I will be bringing all my dragons so make sure Esterad is on his best behavior." Harry said and with that, he apparated away not waiting for her to answer.

 _Avalon_

Harry appeared silently in his office and saw Merri asleep at his desk on top of papers she was probably working on at an earlier period. He walked smoothly up to the desk and gently knocked on the wood with his knuckles. Merri, sprang up from the sudden noise and looked around widely for an intruder before her eyes settled on him.

"Hadrian, oh. Sorry, I was just doing paperwork and must have fallen asleep." She apologized before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Harry shook his head at her.

"Don't kill yourself doing this work Merri. Go to sleep when your tired, in your comfortable bed at home, not my uncomfortable desk." Harry gently chastised.

"Yeah that was the original plan. Anyway, what's wrong with you? You seem troubled by something. Wait, has the assault against King Esterad already ended?" She asked as she looked at him with sudden suspicion.

"No and it doesn't look like there is going to be one." Harry said as he thought on his meeting with the king and the sorceress.

"And? Is that not a good thing?" she asked with confusion. Harry thought about that for a moment before hesitantly nodding.

"I suppose. It is not that, it is something else. I met his sorceress and she seemed amicable to helping me." Harry admitted. Merri seemed even more confused.

"Is… that not a good thing?" she asked again. Harry shrugged.

"Maybe not a bad thing but I don't think I would consider it a good one. It's strange. First Findabair seems to take a random interest in me and now Sheala de Tancarville. Both of them are members of the Lodge of Sorceresses. There's no way that could be a coincidence." Harry said darkly. Merri frowned. Harry knew she wasn't very familiar with magical community workings yet but she probably recognized the name.

The Lodge of Sorceresses was a group of only female magic users and not just any users either. They were some of the most powerful known sorcerers in all the lands. He met some of them of course in the form of Yennefer and Triss. He wasn't actually aware of all the members though, only most of them. It wouldn't be hard to find out but, until now, he hadn't really cared or been concerned by them. He didn't like their sudden interest in him.

"How did she help you?" She asked.

"Esterad acted strange. There is no way he would simply give me his kingdom and I am not buying the whole spiel of wanting to please his wife. I suspect she used some weaker mind magic on him to make him less resistant to the idea of my rule. That in itself is strange. Sheala has never cared much for politics and rulers which means she is most likely doing these things for the lodge. If she's aiding me for the lodge then that means the lodge has some vested interest in seeing my success, not that I need their help." Harry confided while thinking of possible benefits the lodge might get from either his rule or establishing themselves as friends to him.

"Well, just kill them I say. I don't like scheming sorcerers anyhow." Merri told him blandly as she laid her head on the wood of the desk. Harry chuckled at the faux suggestion.

"I am not so cruel to kill for no reason, especially if all they have done so far is to aid me. As long as that's all they do then I see no reason to attack them. Plus, many are in advising positions. It would be much harder to fight all the Northern Realms if they decide to convince their rulers of my true danger. I suppose I can stomach their annoying habit of trying to manipulate me." Harry told her.

"You know, Isabel wasn't happy when you didn't come back with me." Merri told him. Harry frowned.

"We haven't had any mysterious deaths or disappearances have we?" Harry asked with a coldness. He had fed Isabel before leaving and she didn't actually need blood that often as an Unseen Elder.

"No, I check often. Still, when do you think her little hiddie hole in the mountains will be done?" Merri asked.

"Soon. I'll finish it as soon as I finish dealing with Kovir and Poviss. I discovered a way to link the gateway back to her home world recently so I just need to apply the magic and it'll be finished. Though I am a little concerned. Isabel seems…to like the city. A concerning fact." Harry said almost to himself.

"You can't think she would choose to stay here." Merri asked/ demanded. Harry shook his head.

"I don't know about that but I'm scared she might try and visit. She is relatively close to here. Then again, she will hopefully be to busy guarding her gate. She has killed quite a few vampires who have tried to come up north. Apparently, she doesn't wish for it to be discovered her gate was destroyed." Harry told her. He found the thought a little amusing. He may not to be able to stand up to her in a fight yet but he did cause a potentially very embarrassing situation for her.

"At least she is good for something. Last thing we need here is more blood suckers." Merri;s muffled voice said as she still laid on the desk.

"We've been lucky when it comes to monster habitation. Most don't live this far north, save for the dragons. I am sure we're going to have to deal with more now that we will control Kovir and Poviss. The air there is warm enough that several creatures could probably call it home. I have already encountered an insecticoide nest while down there. I should get some Witcher's to move up here. Not enough at Kaer Morhen." Harry said fully realizing he was talking to himself by the end of his little speech.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a soft noise originating from his companion. He looked back down at Merri and realized she was snoring softly. He rolled his eyes before magically picked her up and apparating into her home. He walked slowly to her bedroom followed closely by her floating, slumbering form. Once entered, he quietly pulled back the covers and placed her softly down into the bed. After he placed her, he moved the covers over her.

"Seriously Merri, take better care of yourself. I need you to run things here while I am gone." Harry chastised. She snorted in her sleep as if responding to him and he almost smiled. With her in bed. He disappeared from her home and made his way back to Velhad. It was time to prepare for tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14

_Year 1272_

It's strange how somethings seem to just come together perfectly yet also seem to be extremely problematic at the same time. For example. Nilfgaard seemed to finally make its move on the Northern Kingdoms. It was rather obvious too though not many seemed to see it. I mean who else would benefit from the murders of various Northern Kings… Well besides him of course.

"Merri, it's time to go conquer Kaedwen, are you all packed?" Harry called out into the woman's house.

"No, I am not ready. Why are we doing this?" Merri shouted back. Harry sighed.

"Well, King Henselt is dead and I hear some interesting rumors that Radovid is about to take advantage of such a fact. We are going to do so first. Last thing we need is that freak having more room to spread his hate. Besides, if he decides to attack me then it gives me an excuse to also attack Redania. Two kingdoms for the price of one." Harry explained.

"Yes, but WHY? What's the point of expanding our kingdom? We have over two hundred thousand citizens to deal with now. Why do we want more?" Merri asked as she finally appeared at the door in her custom leather armor.

"Exactly. People keep moving here, especially with the wars, and were running out of room. We've had to build seven towns and countless villages in the past year alone." Harry explained patiently to his second in command.

"So, we just waltz in and take over the place?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow. Harry smiled.

"Of course. What else would we do? Their army is weak and their king has just been murdered. We do this or Radovid does. Plus, Kaer Morhen is in Kaedwen and having control of that kingdom would give easy access to the Witcher's if needed." Harry responded. He didn't mention how Ciri considered Kaer Morhen home and having it in his territory would no doubt make it easy to go there.

"This seems a little much in my opinion but if you say we need to do it then I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. You haven't steered us wrong before." She said begrudgingly.

"I feel like you wished I had failed at least once so you could tell me to stop." Harry said with a smile.

"Yes well, we don't always get what we want in life do we?" She asked rhetorically. Harry shook his head in amusement.

"No, I guess not. Let's move out. You want a dragon to ride or do you want to go by horseback?" Harry asked her. She glared at him. She couldn't really ride one without magic since there weren't actually saddles for the beast and letting anyone else ride them would probably not go very well. He was alpha so they listened to him but it only went so far unless he did a mental assault on them.

"Stop making fun of me. I'll be there with the reserve force in a week to stomp out anyone still resisting. Not that there will be of course." Merri told him as he they walked through the city. Many passing civilians were walking past and greeting them which they would return. He hadn't hidden his invasion from the and his people seemed to still support him. Being such a well-respected ruler did that for you.

"I'm sure you will not disappoint. What about Asal, he is becoming braver in his attempts to gain more knowledge that I have. It is becoming annoying." Harry admitted.

"We should just kill him then. If any potential enemy becomes more trouble than they're worth then you dispose of them. Was it not you who taught me that?" She hissed. Harry considered her words for a moment as they made it to the walls surrounding the city. Outside the city was an army waiting for her and him. Over six thousand men. An impressive number compared to what their army had started as and this wasn't even half of it.

"You are right. When we return, arrest Azal and send him to dungeons. If he does not go willingly then use lethal force. Let him know you are authorized to use lethal force before you actually use it. Be nice about it if you can. He has technically not done anything harmful, he has just become more of a pain then I wish to have around. He has, however, served our city in many ways including healing and I will give him some credit for such service." Harry told her with a pointed look. Merri scowled but her smile returned and she nodded.

"This better be quick then. I can't wait to beat… I mean arrest a potential enemy of the kingdom." She said, just catching herself. Harry smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Well I must be off to the main force now. I shall see you soon." Harry said as he turned and whistled, not waiting for a response. Immediately, a roar answered back and a giant white shape came soaring down from above the tree cover and landed right in front of him. He smiled and easily mounted his dragon. He looked back over at Merri who rolled her eyes while the rest of the men seemed to gaze at him in awe.

He gave a slight wave and spurred the dragon back into the air and was off again. Time to get off to conquering, but just a quick stop along the way.

 _Dragon Mountains, less than an hour later_

"Hello, Isabel." Harry greeted the vampire warmly. Said vampire scowled when seeing him and pouted.

"I hate it when you look at me like that." She told him as she lounged on a couch he had gifted her for her new home.

"What? Do you mean the same way you looked at me for several months when you had power over me?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"Exactly." She responded as she sipped something from a goblet that looked like wine but he had a feeling it was something a little more… gruesome.

"Well, that's what happens when the tables turn. You did not really think I would let you have an advantage over me forever did you, though I will admit, your advantages certainly weren't easy to overcome. I think countering it is the most complicated magic I have ever created." Harry said softly as his mind drifted into the biggest experiment he had ever undertaken, a way to fight off creatures such as Isabel who had immense superior strength, speed, or both. It had not been easy nor had it been fun but the payoff was immense. Of course he could only use such power so much but she didn't need to know that.

"How lucky for me. Is there a reason you are in my home?" She asked bored. Harry knew she was actually excited. She usually got something out these visits after all. Although he may now have the upper hand in battle, he had not lorded his power over her and he certainly still treated her as an equal. Their relationship would be described more as respectfully playful.

"I need a favor. I am about to leave for a little while and it has reached my ears there might a potential assassin or two who is going after my head. Regular men do not concern me and likely will be stopped at the dragon pass but there are those who are more… resourceful. I do not ask you to kill them but when I return, if you noticed anything, I would like you to tell me." Harry said seriously as he finally faced her. She smiled at his words and took another sip of her drink.

"And what… is in it for me?" She questioned softly.

"What do you want?" Harry asked.

"It's awfully dark in my home, don't you think. Candles don't seem to burn as bright as I remember." Harry smirked. In his home, he had magical light devices that served similarly to light bulbs. Much brighter than candles. She had seen them when she had temporarily lived with him.

"You want my light then you can have it. In exchange for your services of course." Harry replied back. She nodded and with that, they had an agreement.

"Thank you, Isabel. I will see you in a several weeks or a month or so. We will see how long this takes." Harry said as he walked calmly out of the cave. He saw his dragon waiting patiently for him and he hopped on to it.

"Alright, let's get to Kaedwen." Harry said to the beast and they were back up in the air.

 _Two Weeks Later_

Harry walked slowly through the now destroyed and flaming gates into the city of Ard CarraIgh, the capital of Kaedwen. He saw the army waiting inside for him in a half circle around the entrance with shields up and spears out.

"Please, surrender. I have an army and two dragons here. The result of this will not change no matter what you do. Please give up before more blood is spilt on this day." Harry urged softly. Silence was all that met his request. He sighed.

"Fine, we can do this the hard way." Harry said. His hand flashed out just as they charged. A seemingly telekinetic blast powerfully erupted from him blasting several rows of soldiers backwards and into their own companions. His own forces rushed in and immediately fell upon the downed and disoriented men. Harry made a noise as he walked through the city towards the keep. Occasionally, a group of soldiers would find him and he would have to blast them to pieces.

"Such needless bloodshed. You don't have a monarch, an army, or even sorceresses left to combat me. You are just wasting your lives but if you wish to keep pushing this then I will oblige." Harry said almost to himself as he continued to push through. He saw several civilians looking down from windows and hiding in alleys as he walked by. He sighed as he reached the keep. Whatever lords were left here would bend the knee or die.

With silence, a red light came out of him with a crack and smashed into the keeps gate. The gate blasted open and Harry found it surprising to find barely any soldiers on the other side. He walked in slowly as he saw several soldiers with weapons ready as they surrounded a middle-aged woman who was looking at him sternly. She had black hair with streaks of grey and it was braided as it went down her back.

"I take it you are the current ruler of Ard Carraigh then? Am I going to have to kill you as well or will you be reasonable." Harry asked calmly.

"I am. I am Cassandra, the wife of the late King Henselt. I have been ruling in his place since his death. It seems you have killed your way through my city." She said with disapproval.

"Strange, I could have sworn I asked your men to surrender and end this without bloodshed several times. They seemed to refuse to do so at every turn. So yes, because your men kept hopelessly charging at me, I reluctantly had to kill my way through them. Am I going to have to do that here or are you going to finally surrender?" Harry asked with slight venom at her accusation. The woman frowned at him and his words. For a moment all is quiet and her men shifted uncomfortably.

"Very well. I surrender. Ard Carraigh is yours King Hadrian." She said as she bowed slightly. She nodded at one of her men and he pulled a horn off his side and blew into it. Harry let him, he knew it to be a signal to surrender. He could already hear his men starting to cheer. He looked at Cassandra.

"How noble to finally surrender once it is your life under threat." Harry shot at her as he walked up to the woman who seemed to tense at his words and movement. Her men tensed back up as well. He ignored it and walked right past them and looked at the keep. It was still in good condition which was a good thing since one of his dragons was still flying overhead and they liked to swoop in and eat or breath on things.

"The city is beautiful, besides the parts that are broken." Harry commented as he looked back at the former queen. Cassandra nodded cautiously at his assessment.

"As you say your grace. Ard Carraigh is one of the major cities in the Northern Kingdom and of course one of the biggest. I am sure you will find it to meet any of your needs." Cassandra replied. He watched her guards shift, clearly not sure what to do in the situation.

"Hm." Harry said as he moved back over to the exit of the keep and watched his men arrive. He raised his hand to signal he was fine before they assumed the former queen was trying to attack with her men.

"The queen has surrendered, please escort her and her men to their chambers until we fully secure our hold on the city." Harry ordered to the platoon of men in front of him. They immediately snapped into action and executed the orders. The queen held herself up straighter as she was surrounded by his men, to proud to show any far.

Harry had to bite back a snort. He had no love for King Henselt, the man was both proud and annoying and had tried to bully Harry when he had first taken Kovir and Poviss by assembling his armies at his borders in a show of force. In response, Harry flew several dragons to the mans doorstep and had unsubtly threatened to murder both him and his entire family if he had ever tried to do such again. At the time he had a young sorceress, or an appearing to be young. You never really knew with sorceresses.

He remembered her threatening him and talking about how audacious it was to be making such claims in her presence. She had tried to throw a fireball at him which was amusing to say the least since his control of fire magic as a dragon animagus was second to none. He had caught the ball and blew out a wall in the keep which he could still see the charred marks on even with the repairs as he looked around.

As punishment, he had broken both her legs with his bare hands and left with a warning that the next time she rose a hand against him, she would die. She had managed to heal herself after but he was sure that it had left a mark on her mind watching him disappear in front of her and then suddenly her legs were magically broken and he was standing over her. It hadn't mattered as she had died sometime recently but still.

Harry jogged himself out of his thoughts when he realized he was in the main hall of the keep and standing in front of the gaudy throne Henselt used to sit on. He made a sound of digest before waving his hand and watching the chair quickly dissolve into a pile of rubble on the floor. With another wave of his hand the rubble seemed to build back up into a simplistic black throne with several sharp points on it to give it a factor of intimidation.

Now, who should he install as the representative to rule Kaedwen? The place was huge and so he needed someone he could trust in the position. His first choice was obviously Merri but he has her running administrative duties in Avalon already. He could switch her to Kaedwen but then he would have less of his own time to plot and scheme. That was dangerous considering how Nilfgaard was on the move killing rulers like him. Of course, that could also put a target on her. Someone trustworthy but not someone he was willing to lose. He'd have to think on it.

 _One Month Later_

Harry walked with several people, one was the commander of his armed forces, a man by the name of Phellix. A peculiar man but he came at the personal recommendation of Merri as she had apparently known him for years and knew him to have a sharp mind and an excellence in combat. On his other side was Merri herself looking rather disgruntled as usual.

"Both the Northern and Southern ends have been quelled and all lords have made their vows to their new king. Rebellions of citizens have been quelled and I assume we will have no more real trouble with Kaedwen what with the various lords coming to gain favor." Phellix said seriously but Harry could hear the lack of care in his voice. The man was bored with politics which was fine as that was not the area he desired Phellix's presence in.

"I am sure a few gifts in the pockets of the lords coming to visit will secure the loyalty of the lords and their armies. Thank you for your report Commander. Congratulations as well, Merri was right about your skill, I was most impressed with your tactics used to take the North. You will find your position in my army permanent should you so wish." Harry offered easily to the man. The bored look seemed to disappear as the man smiled looking very pleased at his words.

"Thank you, your grace. I will aim to please in the future." The commander said with a smile. Harry nodded with one of his own.

"Good, now you are dismissed to go about with whatever else you wish to do today, I only require Lady Merri's place in this next part of the conversation." Harry told him easily. It was an order and Phellix seemed to understand that as he bid them both farewell as he turned and headed back to the keep. The man certainly loved to train, and it paid off from what Harry had seen. The man could probably go up against a witcher, he may not win but Harry was sure he could put up a real fight.

"So, you like him then?" Merri asked with a smirk as they watched the man walk off.

"Were you afraid I wouldn't? The man is as talented with a sword as I am with magic." Harry admitted as they turned and continued walking through the capital.

"High praise coming from you. And he should be good with the sword as he picked one up when he was just four and I don't think he has put them down since. When he was sixteen he left our settlement to go challenge foes and kill bandits to sharpen his skills." Merri told him. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And how did that go?" Harry asked curiously.

"He was back in a week with a black eye and a large gash across his chest smiling like an idiot." Merri told him with a cheeky grin on her face. Harry laughed at the mental image before calming himself once more.

"We have a problem you know?" Harry sighed.

"You have a problem maybe. My only problem is that you haven't let me return home to arrest the snake." Merri grunted in annoyance.

"Hmm. I can't decide who to place in control of Kaedwen. It needs to be someone I trust but also someone that is expendable. So far, no such names come to mind." Harry explained to her. Merri gained a thoughtful expression.

"Why don't you rule it personally. Kaedwen is not that far from Avalon, only a week or twos journey from here. That's not too much of a hassle for these people to make if they have requests for you.

"True, but they would be unused to the distance and may think it more than it is, this may encourage them to do stupid things thinking I am far away and will not notice or they are once more untouchable. I can of course teleport but it is they who need transportation, not I. I also really need an administrative system to weed out some of the low tier things that I shouldn't bother with." Harry complained as he listed his issues.

'Why don't you make one then? I am sure Kovir and Poviss as well as this place have plenty of people who could do such jobs." Merri suggested.

"The more people In government, the more chances of corruption. Then again, maybe I could fix that too. A police force that watches over officials to make sure they do not abuse their powers. I cannot use my crows, there spread thin as it is and making more is risky considering how many are already attached. Hmm. This bares more thought, but back to Kaedwen." Harry said controlling his tangent mind.

"Too bad travel isn't instantaneous for anyone but sorcerers, then it wouldn't matter how far you were." Merri said as she seemed to get distracted by a vendor selling something delicious smelling.

Harry froze in place. Travel instantly! Of course, how could he have not thought of It sooner. He could make portals. Connected portals and place them in all the kingdoms. It would be easy and he could make them small enough to not used by an invading force. A travel agency perhaps but instead of a vehicle, you just stepped into a gateway. He could directly rule over all his kingdoms with ease. Of course, he would need to eventually place representatives when it became too much for one person but it was a temporary solve and would also help with other issues of his.

"That stupid look is on your face again." Merri deadpanned and Harry realized that she had apparently moved to stand directly in front of him.

"Merri dearest, you have just given me the most marvelous idea." Harry said with a spreading grin. She looked at him suspiciously.

"Is this going to be like the time incident again?" she asked him. Harry smiled.

"No, not as dangerous I assure you. Still, it's potential is amazing. Oh boy, I could make it like an airport of gateways. In each kingdom, or maybe even in major cities! No, maybe just kingdoms, that's a lot of work after all." Harry started on again unknowingly talking to himself and ignoring his friend.

"Harry! Seriously stop that. It freaks me out." Merri demanded as she punched his arm. Harry gripped the appendage in mock pain.

"Ow. You're violent when your angry. Very well, I will stop. By the way, you may leave in the morning if you wish to go back to Avalon. I know you have… business there." Harry hinted unsubtly. The evil grin spread across her face as she nodded.

"Suddenly I feel tired and want to go to sleep as soon as possible. I will bid you farewell." She said to him. Harry nodded and returned the sentiment before walking away. He smiled as he watched her go before turning to continue you.

It was only after he turned that he realized there was nowhere to continue to. He was at the front gates of the city and was about to leave. He took in a deep breath as he calmed himself. To the right, he could see the sun setting as it dipped slowly below the horizon.

With nothing left to think on, he left his mind to drift on to the girl he was doing this all for, Cirilla. He knew it to be strange to do all this for someone he had only known for several months but Harry was strange. No one, not even her, would probably ever understand the impact she had. She had lit a fire in him that had not gone out since they met. She was a being he felt connected on the deepest level and the universe had somehow seen fit to give him a chance to pay her back.

And he was sure that she would be back here one day. She was stubborn and since she had decided to come back after she had initially left Harry all those years ago, it was not a matter of if but when. The Wild Hunt would still be chasing her down, he knew this for a fact. They would continue until they physically could not anymore. But, when she returned, she would not find herself without allies. He had the full weight of an entire kingdom he would throw behind her. He himself would scorch her enemies to bone and not just the Hunt either. They were not the only individuals who desired her power, everyone seemed to for some reason. Her father had never stopped looking and he doubted he ever would.

Harry could no longer guess the man's motivations but if they were sinister to his daughter, he would cut down the man as easily as he had done the rest of his enemies. Until then, he was nothing more than a nuisance and Harry was hesitant to let anyone, including himself, decide his fate without Ciri's approval.

Besides her father there was also the various sorcerers trying to go after her. He had learned more on the lodge in the past to years and it seemed to him that they found the idea of being under his rule the most lucrative of their current options. They seemed to be under the impression that he would be willing to give magic users the most rights and freedoms considering his own stance and position. Nilfgaard was closing in but they also seemed to think his dragons could possible stop the Emperors advance north or maybe take on the man himself. They were playing both sides and seeing who would win it seems. He was sure to use that information against them at a later point when they wanted something.

He was sure there would be more who wished for her for various reasons and he was just as sure he would stand up to them as a shield and possibly a sword if necessary.

He drifted back into the present as he felt something pass him by. He turned to look and saw nothing. No, it wasn't something, it was a presence, a signature that he was familiar with. He closed his eyes and tried to think where he recognized it but couldn't quite place it, it was like something on the tip of your tongue.

Harry was sure if he spent enough time standing here, he would figure it out but he figured he might as well investigate considering he had nothing but time at the moment. With that settled, he decided to follow the signature as well as he could through his city. It wasn't hard, most people didn't have magic and while this person didn't have much magic, the fact that they had any made them stand out quite a bit more than the average person. Although it got hard when the person seemed to go through town squares where there were some many signatures to keep up with.

He idly noticed that the person seemed to be making their way through the city without stopping and also seemed to be making their way to the opposite end of the city where the keep was. The man couldn't be an assassin could they ? He hadn't met many and running through the list of the ones he knew wasn't matching up with what he was feeling now.

He stopped trying to follow it for a moment and silently apparated away after making sure no one was watching him. He reappeared at the courtyard of the keep in a particularly shadowy corner and sure enough, he felt the familiar signature again. Hmm you know, it actually felt quite a bit like…

"Ah, your grace. I had just sent several messengers into the city looking for you. An elder gentleman is here to see you. He seemed…" A man he recognized as one of the keeps head servants. A very professional elderly man who had salt and pepper hair.

"Say no more. He is expected. Where did you last leave him?" Harry questioned the man though he had no real need. This close, he could feel the signature inside the main hall.

"He is in the main hall waiting for you sir." The man told him.

"Thank you, Luther. Take the night off from here, I shall be fine from here." Harry said as he moved to enter the hall, not waiting for a response from the man. He opened the door and walked inside.

There the man was, sitting on his knees without so much as a twitch. Head down and gray/white hair loosely tied behind the man and a dark light combat vest around him.

"Well well well, Geralt of Rivia. It's about fucking time."


	15. Chapter 15

_Early 1272_

 _Ard Calleigh_

Harry waited patiently at the table in his keep, sitting patiently and eating some food as he waited for his guest to awake. Geralt had arrived late afternoon yesterday and had seemed to wish to talk to him. Harry had wanted to as well but he took one look at the man and had ordered him to bed. Geralt had clearly not been sleeping and had been moving fast here. Harry had told him to sleep now and they would talk in the morning as soon as he awoke. The Witcher had tried to insist of course but Harry had drawn the line.

" _Geralt, you look like absolute shit. Now, I can imagine you have a great longing to talk but right now, I want you to go upstairs, crawl in one of the beds and not get out of it until you are fully rested, I promise that I will not go anywhere while you sleep and we can talk as soon as you get up." Harry told the grim looking man. Geralt gave him a hard look as if he wanted to continue to push the issue put seemed to finally relent._

" _Fine. Tomorrow." The grey-haired man seemed to demand._

" _Tomorrow." Harry agreed easily. With that, he led the man to the room he would be staying at._

Now, Harry was simply waiting for the man to wake. He was a Witcher so it would likely be soon as they didn't need as much sleep as a normal person might. Still, it has been more than twelve hours since they had seen each other last night which meant he was right when he said the man must be tired. Geralt usually rose and fell with the sun and the sun had been up for several hours at this point.

Harry smirked to himself as he felt Geralt's presence move from his room, perhaps he spoke to soon. He gestured for a servant waiting by the kitchen door to come over. The man hurriedly did so.

"Your grace?" the man asked nervously.

"My guest is coming down, please bring out more fresh food for him." Harry asked politely though the man could clearly tell it was an order. The servant nodded.

"Right away, your grace." The servant said before scurrying into the kitchen and not looking back once.

Harry looked after him before shaking his head. The people of Kaedwen had apparently taken to calling him the Witch King. It was an amusing title to be sure and perfect for striking fear in the hearts of his enemies. Too bad that wasn't what he had been trying to do. His goal was to win the people over and show himself to be better then their previous rulers.

He was brought from his musing as Geralt finally made it down and entered the room. The man's eyes quickly spotted him and he walked over to Harry's seated position. He sat down right across from him.

"Your grace." Geralt said respectively. Harry could feel his lip twitch as he almost frowned but caught himself. Geralt hadn't addressed him as such yesterday, Harry hadn't thought it odd then but now that he thought on it, he realized it was a little out of place for the normally stoic man. Geralt was usually very formal to royalty no matter what his relationship with them. Still, he wouldn't allow himself to be referred to by such, especially from a friend.

"I'll here none of that. I'm not your king for one and even if I was, I am a friend before I am a king. Understood?" Harry told him seriously. Geralt looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

"Hadrian then." Geralt corrected. Harry nodded, pleased that he acquiesced to his request so easily.

"There you go. I see you have gotten your memories back. I am glad. I checked in on you once or twice you know, you never seemed to notice me so I figured you were still afflicted. I knew you would heal eventually though. Being a Witcher and all." Harry told him. As he finished, the servant came out and laid some food down for Geralt.

"Thank you." Geralt said with a nod at the servant. The servant bowed before scampering away. Harry made a gesture with his hands for Geralt to eat.

"You can talk and eat at the same time." Harry told him. He sure didn't have to say it twice. Geralt started to dig in.

"When did you get your memory?" Harry asked him.

"It's been coming back for several months now. I can already remember a lot I think, but I still have a ways to go." Geralt told him. Harry nodded at hearing that.

"That's good to here. Did you decide to come as soon as you remembered me or was it something else that brought you to my door?" Harry asked him curiously. Geralt looked at him.

"I am actually going back to Kaer Morhen. It is time I re-walk the path of the Witcher. I intend to meet back up with Vesemir." Geralt told him. Harry nodded but frowned slightly. He was only recently established in Kaedwen but he was sure he might be able to help out the Witchers.

"I will be happy to aid you on your way. I'll give you a horse, supplies, and a letter of safe passage just in case for whenever you decide to leave. Feel free to stay as long as you wish though. Last I saw it, Kaer Morhen was still not in the greatest shape, although it has been a few years. If you ever decide to restore it, let me know. I am sure I can send some men and supplies up to aid you." Harry told him. Geralt looked at him and Harry could see slight confusion in his eyes.

"Did I take you to Kaer Morhen once?" He asked. Harry smiled and shook his head.

"Geralt, I have been around for a long time and can move without any detection should I choose too. I have been many places and have stopped at Witcher stomping grounds a few times. I saw it a few years ago while out in the mountains." Harry told him. Geralt seemed to be digesting that but nodded.

"Alright, I'll let the old man know though I don't know how willing he would be. He doesn't like having Witcher's associated with any power." Geralt responded.

"He doesn't have to worry about me trying to get him to pay me back. If I offer a gift then it is just that." Harry told him.

"I shall let him know." Geralt said honestly. Harry smiled.

"Good. I suppose you picked a good time to go back to walking the path of a Witcher. I am sure I could use the help dealing with all the monsters popping up in my Kingdom at least. I was actually thinking of training my guards in the basics of monster disposal." Harry admitted. Geralt frowned slightly and grunted. Harry smirked.

"Hey, if there were more Witchers running around to be hired I wouldn't have to but we both know it's a dying profession." Harry said to him, turning serious at the end. Geralt sighed at that but nodded.

"I suppose I can't argue with that." Geralt grumbled. Harry nodded.

For the next few hours, Geralt and him spent simply catching up with Geralt telling him what he had been up to for the last couple of years. When he got to Triss and their relationship Harry eyed Geralt for a moment.

"Wow…I didn't realize I was speaking to a dead man." Harry said as he sipped some water from a mug. Geralt shuddered as he said it.

"Do I even want to know how you know of Yennefer?" Geralt asked him. Harry smirked.

"I know a lot of things. Your relationship with Yennefer is just one of the many many things I know. Have you talked to her?" Harry asked. Geralt shook his head.

"No, I don't know where to even look for her. Knowing her though, I am sure I will run into her at some point." Geralt said to him. Harry nodded slowly.

"If it helps… last I heard she was somewhere in Nilfgaard." Harry told the man. He saw Geralt quickly latch onto the information before nodding.

"Thank you." Geralt said to him.

"Hope you have some way of making it up to her. You never know with Yennefer, she could kill you or pretend like it never happened. Might want to carry a gift around with you just in case." Harry responded back to him.

"You might be right…Speaking of Nilfgaard, what are your plans now that they are knocking on your door?" Geralt questioned. Harry thought on that.

"I have a plan. You know of my dragons I assume? I am going to have them freeze the river and build a wall of ice on top of the Pontar." Harry said to Geralt. Geralt dropped his fork and looked at him.

"Are you serious?" Geralt asked him. Harry nodded.

"I have only recently established myself in Kaedwen and I don't want to fight with them just yet. I need a few more months to get the army in order. I have Esterad assembling a naval force in Kovir as well. It's more a delay than anything else. I am sure Radovid can be useful in something by halting Emhyr for at least a few months. What remains of the Temerian army is assembling as a guerilla force against Nllfgaard as well." Harry explained.

"Any news on Roche?" Geralt asked him.

"I believe he is the one leading said guerilla force. From what I have gathered, Radovid has just recently decided to send some supplies to the man and his forces to help pick off the invaders." Harry informed. Geralt nodded.

"Good to know he made it." Geralt said seemingly pleased. Harry nodded but said nothing more on the subject. With that, they drifted into a comfortable silence with the occasional comment thrown in. Geralt still didn't have all his memories but Harry figured he should probably reveal the truth to him soon about his relationship with Ciri. He so far thought on doing it once his memory was fully intact.

When Geralt finally finished, Harry finally addressed the subject of his leaving.

"How long do you think you will be staying?' Harry asked him. Geralt's face didn't change but Harry could see in his eyes he was thinking on the question.

"I should probably leave today. I have already been away a long time." Geralt mentioned. Harry nodded before looking the man over. He wrinkled his nose.

"Some new clothes and armor could also do you some good it seems. I don't believe we have any silver swords made in the keeps forge but some of the blacksmiths around town might. I do know we have plenty of quality steel though and I encourage you to head to the armory and grab one as well as some light armor before you go. Free of charge of course. While you do that, I will have servants get your supplies ready as well as a horse from our stables. Say we meet at the North gate in three hours?" Harry asked him.

"Just past midday? Alright, that works for me. Thank you, Hadrian." Geralt said sincerely. Harry nodded with a smile.

"Anything for an old friend." Harry said as they parted to do their respective tasks. Harry summoned several servants to go and collect supplies for his trip while Harry went to the stables himself to pick out a horse for his companion. He settled on a brown mare who looked sturdy enough look to him.

"You'll do. How much for him?" Harry asked the stablemaster.

"Your grace, I couldn't possibly cha-"

"You insult me by not charging me sir. How much is the horse? The full price." Harry told the elderly man sternly. The man told him the price and he gave him a large bag of coin to cover the charge.

"Keep the change. A man with grey hair named Geralt will be picking it up today. He is a Witcher and clearly looks like one. I want no issues with him taking this specific horse, understood?" Harry questioned the man who bowed once more deeply before giving him several promises to do what he commanded.

Harry looked around the city further just to see if he could find something that Geralt might need but didn't really see anything. Once he made his way back to the Keep, he quickly saw Geralt testing a new steel sword on one of the practice dummy's in the courtyard. Harry noticed his form was still as impressive as it used to be.

"Your form is still looking tip top. If you ever need some extra coin, I'd love to have you as a trainer for my men, even If it was temporary." Harry said as he praised the man. Geralt scowled at him.

"I'd rather not do that, ever." Geralt told him. Harry smiled and even let out a little laugh at the man's face.

"Fine, fine maybe not that. Although perhaps you could help me with my form if you ever have a chance. I would love to get a little better at killing people with a pointy stick." Harry joked though his tone suggested he was semi- serious.

"Hm. Maybe someday. I suppose." Geralt said seemingly at least more open to that. Harry nodded.

"Great. Well I have your horse ready and the servants should have your things by now. There was only one thing I had let to ask you. The former queen here, Cassandra, what do you think of her?" Harry asked. Geralt frowned at that.

"Cassandra? Don't know much of her to be honest. Henselt, I knew of but I did my best to avoid him. He wasn't someone I would like to associate with. I know some basic information on her I suppose. With Henselt's attitude, she was commonly thought to be the voice of reason with her husband. I believe I remember something about her being more educated than a normal noble lady. That's about the limit of my knowledge on her." Geralt admitted.

Harry nodded his head at that. He had already heard such and was currently in the process of finding out how she did in said schooling by having a couple of crows head to Oxenfurt.

"Thank you. In truth, I was thinking of giving her control over Kaedwen in my name. She appears intelligent and knows the ins and outs better than I do. I only have an issue with the matter of loyalty. Well… this is not your problem so I won't bore you too much with the details. Are you ready to head out?" Harry asked and Geralt nodded. They walked over to the North gate where the horse would be saddled and ready.

They made it rather quickly and Geralt quickly got up on his horse. Harry saw the horse didn't seem to mind his new owner and Harry was glad. He took another look at Geralt and nodded in satisfaction as he saw the man in fresh clothes and finally noticed that he had indeed changed his armor.

"Well, it was good to see you my friend and I hope to see you again soon. Remember what I told you about help with repairs at Kaer Morhen." Harry told the man. Geralt nodded.

"Thank you, Hadrian. I will not forget this… Don't, I realized it as I said it." Geralt finished as he looked down and saw the smirk growing on Harry's face.

"I shall see you later Geralt. Safe travels. While I ask you not to get in fights with any soldiers on your way, if you notice them doing something… unacceptable, then I hope you gut them. Consider it officially cleared by me. You know what, maybe I should make an official position for Witchers. I know people sometimes try to cheat you. Maybe being backed by the crown can help with that. You won't have to answer to the crown but maybe have to take a test to prove you know what you're doing to get certified. What do you think?" Harry asked. Geralt just looked at him. Harry just waved off the stare.

"Fine, I'll put more thought into it and get back to you." Harry told him.

"Goodbye Hadrian." Geralt said before kicking the horse in side to get it moving. Harry watched as the man trotted away on his horse and disappeared over a hill a few moments after. Harry turned and walked back into town.

 _Several Days Later_

Harry sat on his throne and listened to various common people state issues they had that they wanted him to solve. It was easy to do usually, especially since a mixture of projected thoughts and passive legilimency usually allowed him to find out who was in the wrong quickly. Still, he would rather use his time to do something more important.

Two men had just finished their arguments against each other and more were approaching when he held up his hand to stop them as he saw a crow quickly fly in the room and move towards him. Everyone in the throne room stopped and stared as the crow landed on his shoulder.

"Well, what news do you have for me, little one?" Harry questioned, the crow leaned into his ear and a wealth of knowledge slowly flowed into his mind that the crow had learnt while away. Hmm, it would seem that Cassandra had indeed completed a multitude of classes with high marks from her teachers. It would seem most of her classes had to do with politicking as well which was good.

"Everyone leave, we are done for the day." Harry commanded. The people bowed before shuffling out the door. He turned to one of his guards in the room and beckoned him forward.

"Have Lady Cassandra brought to me immediately." Harry commanded easily. The soldier bowed to him.

"Right away, your grace." The soldier responded before quickly moving out of the room to fetch the noble woman. Harry sat back leisurely on his throne as he patiently waited for the woman to arrive. It didn't take the woman long. She came in with her head held high as she approached him, looking every bit of the queen that she once was.

"Lady Cassandra." He said in greeting. She bowed deeply as was expected.

"Your grace, you asked to see me?" She questioned. She didn't look like she was expecting him to say anything good. She probably thought he was about to order her away.

"I did. I have recently been looking for a regent to rule Kaedwen in my name and after careful consideration, I have decided that I will be appointing you to such a position." Harry told her. The woman's eyes widened before she quickly schooled her features.

"It would be an honor, your grace. May I ask why, though, you have chosen myself for such a position?" she questioned.

"You know the land, the people, and have the knowledge to rule. The only thing you do not have is my trust. I am, however, willing to give you a chance to earn it through this appointment." Harry said back easily. He watched as the lady seemed to process his words after each one left his mouth. After another moment she nodded her acceptance.

"I shall do my best to meet your expectations, your grace." She told him.

"See that you do, for if I ever hear a hint of you betraying the trust I have placed in you, I promise there will be nothing left of you to bury." Harry threatened as his voice became quiet yet sharp like an icy wind. You could feel the temperature in the room dropping and the effect it had, not only on the lady but the guards as well who all stiffened when feeling the chill creep onto them. Lady Cassandra, stiffened and seemed to need a moment to catch her breath once more.

"I promise that such things will not be necessary. I will make sure to give you no reason to doubt me." Lady Cassandra told him strongly. He gave a small smile at seeing her still manage to compose herself in front of the unsettling presence that sat in front of her. Should her words be true, she would make an excellent regent.

"Excellent. The official announcement will be tomorrow but you will take over the duties immediately. The office I have been using is now yours as are all the materials and information in it. Given you previous education, I trust you will know how to use said materials?" Harry questioned. She nodded in the affirmative.

"Good. Congratulations on your appointment Lady Cassandra." Harry stood as he left the room.

"Thank you, your grace." Was the last thing he heard from her as he was leaving.

Harry smiled to himself. With that out of the way, there were a few more things he needed to get done before leaving Ard Calleigh. He still needed to make a defense on the Pontar river for one and he still needed to start setting up a portal system which he we connect in Avalon. Then he would have to go back and deal with Asal.

He still wasn't sure what he would do to the man if he were honest. Yes, spying was wrong and trying to break into his office was also bad but it wouldn't be fair to judge him just by the negatives. He had indeed helped a lot of people during his stay with healing and even did some work to aid in better crop production. Things that Harry himself no longer had as much time for.

Unfortunately for the man, Harry had been getting more and more magic users coming into his country after growing persecution from Radovid and not wanting to go to Nilfgaard. Many were offered and took jobs in several areas to help out the people around them in similar capacities as Asal. The man was no longer as useful as he had been. Still, Harry would have to do his best to be fair.

With that line of thought complete, Harry decided to leave the keep and move through the city to a building he had recently bought. It would act as the portal hub so to speak so it was rather large. He walked in and looked at the front room.

Inside was a desk where people would be going to pay for the travel. They would fill out a form specifying where they were going and a few other minor details and that would be all. He went into the large back room where several portal doorways were already set up. Normally, other sorcerers had to use crystals to power these but Harry could use runes and simply have them powered by the latent magic in the air or a new trick he learned recently where he could actually capture solar energy and convert it to magical energy. Either way, it was a more complex but efficient solution.

This room had several doorways and the building had another floor where he could make more if needed. Now, it was time to simply put the proper runic chains on the doorway to make sure they worked. Luckily this would be much easier than the portal he had made for Isabel. These were on the same world and dimension.

It took him several hours to finish them but by the end, he had actually thought up a new magical way to speed up the process so hopefully, the next sets he made would take less time. Right now, he only had a portal set up in Avalon so that would be the only portal that turned on.

With the finishing touches down, he finally activated the runic chain and the portal blazed to life. Immediately a soft, blue, slow-turning swirl filled the doorway. Harry smiled and cast some specialized diagnostic spells on the portal to make sure it was all reading properly. Once he confirmed that, he finally stepped through. Immediately, he was in a similar but different color, and styled room. He recognized it as the room in the portal room he set up in Avalon. He smiled at his success before moving back through the portal.

He quickly reappeared in the room in Ard Calleigh. He gave himself a quick pat on the back for a job well done as he thought on what other tasks he needed completed. The dragons would probably arrive tomorrow and they would probably need a day of rest before they could start building a wall of ice on the Pontar. Come to think of it, Nilfgaard was probably only a few days away from the river themselves. Maybe he should go and do something to slow them down.

 _Next Day_

Harry was flying right over the Pontar river a couple thousand feet in the air. Any who saw him would most assuredly not be able to recognize his draconic form at first glance. He flapped his wings to propel him forward as he used his dragon sight to gaze downwards.

It looked like there was still people running towards his borders, most likely hoping to outpace the Nilfgaardian armies. He grimaced as he realized not everyone would likely make it into Kaedwen before he built up his wall. There wasn't anything he could really do about that. Besides, the army wasn't coming for civilians so most wouldn't be targeted. If the civilians were smart. They would just go over to Redania instead and then cross over.

He ignored them and flew for another hour or two before he finally set eyes on a large mass of humans in black armor marching towards his borders. He looked at all of them and absorbed information on how they were spread out, as well as if there were any magic users among them. He could not sense any but if one was good enough at hiding then there were ways to get around his senses.

After a few moments of watching, he decided that the best play would be to crash down right in the middle of their march. It would most definitely cause the most chaos and disorder. He was long past feeling guilty for killing soldiers. Those who dealt in death should not be surprised when It came for them as well. That was how he lived even before becoming the Master of Death.

With this final thought, he closed his wings and started his drop out of the sky. He eyed the place where he wished to land and kept watch on when the army would notice him. It took them a while to realize his growing size was not actually some bird but a black, hulking mass. He was several hundred feet when he started to hear the screams as the men became alerted to his presence.

He could see many already break formation to run but he didn't mind. This was a delaying tactic more than anything else. A few more moments and he smashed heavily into the ground causing not only a miniature earthquake, throwing men completely in the air but also dirt and dust as well. A cloud of it seemed to cover his form and for a moment there was silence.

When the dust cleared, he could see the frightened faces of the men around him who seemed frozen with shock. He looked down at them only for a moment before letting loose an earsplitting draconic roar that seemed to shake the world once more as well as finally stir the men into movement. The brave ran at him with weapons while the craven ran away from him in fear. It mattered little as Harry let loose a torrent of a wicked purple flame that seemed to disintegrate all in front of him.

When the flames stopped pouring out of him, he gave them no time to even recover. With a mighty jerk of his huge body, he swung his massive tail like a whip behind him. He felt it smash into several small items and break them. It wasn't hard to figure out that these were soldiers.

At this point, none seemed to be brave enough to try and attack. Most were trying to run away. Harry followed on foot and continued to pick the army off. He swiped his claws that were like blades that went straight through their armor as if it were made of paper. Every once in a while, he would come upon a large cluster of men running and would unleash another torrent of flame upon them, burning them to ash.

He did this for awhile before noticing the amount of death and damage he had caused. The landscape probably wouldn't recover for years without magical aid and while there were a couple of thousand men marching towards Kaedwen, at least a thousand must be dead now with who knows how many injured. Harry decided he had done more than enough to slow this army down and gave a might flap of his wings before once more lifting himself into the sky and flying away.

He could have finished the job but there was really no need. Death should have a use besides filling some one's sadistic needs. Harry did not consider himself a sadist and saw no reason to kill more than he needed to. With Nilfgaard delayed for several weeks at the least from this, he would have plenty of time to have the wall built and then magically reinforce it.

 _Several more days later_

Harry watched as the ice dragons finally finished their work and made the ice wall a suitable fifty feet in height. The Pontar that made up the southern border of Kaedwen was several miles long and it took a while for even six dragons to go back and forth on it to build it up. Luckily, he had had been able to saturate the wall in magic as it was being built so he could do some work on it while the dragons were also working.

With the wall properly saturated, he cast several charms on it to keep it from melting as well as keep people from climbing up it. He had debated having runic arrays but making those in ice would be a pain and he also didn't plan on having this be a permanent structure. No need to waste extra work on something just for temporary protection.

Even without the, arrays, it still took him several days to move up and down the wall casting charms as well as allowing his reserves to properly recover. He didn't want them to get to low in what was still not considered truly friendly territory.

He sat on top of the wall and sighed as he looked down. So much work had been done recently and he was tired. He was about to go back to Avalon and deal with Asal before taking a long-needed break. He swiftly apparated back to Ard Calleigh and into the building housing his portals. He didn't have the energy to apparate all the way back.

He was in the room in a moment and walked easily into the beautiful, blue portal before once more being transported to a new place. He walked out of it and saw himself once more in the Avalon building he had set up for portals and breathed easy as he exited the building. He decided to simply walk to the tower and enjoy the afternoon coolness. Many of the civilians were happy to see him and greeted him kindly which he returned.

This followed him all the way to the tower which he was pleased about. Those in the Far North loved him and he knew those in Kovir and Poviss at least liked him after several royal decrees he had made which pertained to them. Kaedwen would take some time as he had not been the ruler there very long.

When he reached the tower, the guards opened the doors for him with no prompting and greeted him kindly.

"Welcome home, your grace."

"Thank you. Can you tell me where Lady Merri is?" Harry asked, being to lazy to sense her out himself."

"I believe she is in her office in the tower." The guard informed him.

"Thank you." Harry said before continuing up to her office. He easily navigated through the familiar halls until he stood in front of her door. He knocked politely and waited.

"Come in." a muffled voice said from within.

He stepped in and saw Merri writing something on a piece of paper as a man from her personal task force stood next to her. As they saw him enter, both made to bow before he waved off the gesture.

"Please, don't bother. What are you up to?" Harry asked.

"it's good to see you. I am giving Henry here permission to launch an investigation on a sorcerer in Velhad who we suspect may have used magic to convince women to sleep with him." Merri told him. Harry nodded. While magic users were welcome, that did not mean he would let them take advantage of others just because they felt themselves better than them.

"Good to hear. I came to hopefully deal with Asal. Do you have time?" Harry asked her. A gleam appeared in her eyes as she quickly nodded.

"Sure, I just finished this. Here you go Henry. Take two others of your choice with you. Make sure you detail and have evidence of everything. I don't want any mistakes or claims that we treat or mistreat sorcerers separately from other citizens. Understood?" Merri commanded. Henry nodded.

"It shall be done, my lady." He said before politely before excusing himself. Harry watched as the man left before looking at Merri.

"Ready?" He asked her.

"Absolutely, let's go." She said as they walked out the door and head down to the dungeons hidden under the tower.

The tower had a state of the art dungeon system with a mix of magic and mundane traps hidden for those who tried to break in or escape.

"Have you decided on what his punishment will be?" Merri asked.

"Nope." Harry responded easily. She frowned at that.

"Why not?" She asked.

"I want to look in his eyes when I sentence him." Harry said back to her. Merri grunted at him and he smiled at her response.

"Just because you never liked him, doesn't mean he doesn't deserve some mercy. He helped a lot when Avalon was just starting." Harry told her.

"To convince you to let him stay, not because he is a nice person." Merri said back.

"It is both, people are complex creatures and don't often have one singular reason for doing anything. I am sure Asal would have been willing to help either way. He is not inherently a bad person or an evil individual. He is just someone who happened to be loyal to someone else." Harry told her. Merri was quiet at that. They eventually got to the cell housing Asal. He peered into the cell and saw the man who seemed unconscious. Harry snapped his fingers and used a rennervate on the man causing him to jump up.

The man looked around in confusion at where he was but not too much as he was currently in magic dampening chains that hung on each of his limbs. He seemed to struggle against the chains when he realized he was in them.

"Did he struggle when you arrested him?" Harry asked as if he were talking about the weather.

"Yes, though not much. When it was clear he was going to struggle, we knocked him out and brought him here. That was yesterday." Merri told him. There conversation seemed to grab Asal's attention as he came over to the entrance to his cell and started babbling. Harry ignored the man for the moment.

"He has been asleep the whole time?" Harry asked her. Merri shrugged.

"As far as I know, no." she said back. Harry nodded though he frowned a little. Either they had hit the man really hard or this was not the first time he had woken. Asal kept babbling and it was getting on Harry's nerves. With another snap of his fingers, no sound came out of Asal anymore. The man seemed confused when he tried to say something but nothing came out.

"I am going to release the charm on you. When I do, if you keep babbling like a baby, I am going to have to use more physical means to get you to stop. Do you understand?" Harry asked. Asal nodded frantically. With that, the spell dropped. Asal didn't say anything when it did, seemingly afraid to speak first.

"I assume you know why you are here?" Harry asked.

"No, your grace. I promise I have committed no wrong doing." Asal said, lying through his teeth.

"Really? Well then, I will give you a chance to not lie to me. I will ask you a series of questions and you will answer, simple as that. Understand?" Harry asked him. Asal nodded rapidly again.

"Good. Now, are you a servant of the sorceress known as Francesca Findabair or Enid an Gleanna?"

"N-no, your grace."

"Have you ever sent information about the Avalonian Empire to any outside kingdom or source?"

"No, of course not."

"Have you ever tried to break into restricted areas while I am away somewhere else?"

"I…no."

Harry just looked at the man/elf who started to twitch in fear under his chilling gaze.

"Are you a man?"

"I… I am."

"Now see there's the problem with you Asal. I give you a chance and you spit on it. Metaphorically of course." Harry said with a sigh. Asal quickly started letting out claims that he was telling the truth. Harry didn't answer him verbally instead he waved his hand over the mans face and watched as the illusion dropped on the elf, silenceing him. Asal looked in horror at him as it was clear his jig was up. Harry said nothing for a moment as he took a step back from the cage.

"…I knew from the very beginning Asal. The night you arrived, I watched you go into your home and contact your mistress. I heard you report everything you learned that day to her. I saw you drop the illusion that made you look like a man." Harry told him and he started to slowly pace back and forth in front of his cell. Asal said nothing as he looked to Harry.

"The security around my office freezes the signature of any who try to enter It while my protections are up to inform me who it was when I return. I knew it was you after your first attempt. In truth, the reason you are here is because I had grown tired of having to deal with said attempts." Harry finished as he crouched down to look at Asal who had slid to the floor in defeat at this point. For a few moments there was silence. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Merri smirking from the display.

"Why… if you knew the whole time, why would you let me stay this long." Asal asked him. Harry shrugged.

"Why wouldn't I? I only ever let you have information that I didn't care for and you were pretty much harmless. In fact, you even aided Avalon with your healing and help with the planting of crops near the city. I got more than I gave with having you around so I let it stand." Harry told the elven sorcerer who digested Harry's words.

"So… I was made before I even started…" Asal said sadly.

"No offence, but you are a terrible spy Asal. I am already extremely good at catching spies and I mean real spies who train their whole life. You on the other hand… well I had you the moment you entered the Far North." Harry told him. Asal seemed to be holding back the depression setting in from how badly he had failed.

"So what happens now?" as all Asal asked. Harry started to pace slowly again.

"Well… that depends. On the one hand, spies usually hang, on the other hand, you were a big help to the creation of Avalon when it first started with your healing and kept helping with crops after. So I honestly am at a bit of dilemma here. What would you do in my position?" Harry asked.

"I… I-I don't know." Asal admitted.

"Hmm." Harry said as looked over to Merri. She just looked back at him. She didn't have to make her opinion known, he knew what she wanted done. He didn't believe he was willing to go that far.

"… I'm going to let you live Asal. In fact, I am going to let you go." Harry said.

"What?"/"You are?"

Harry smiled at the reactions of the two as he looked back and forth between them. Merri seemed pissed while Asal looked relieved.

"Don't look to relieved Asal, you are still getting punished. Taking into account both the good and bad you have done there is only one punishment suitable for you. From this day to your last, you shall forever be banished from any land under the control of the Avalonian Empire. Along with this your magic will also be bound so you may never use the gifts you were born with again." Harry commanded. Asal seemed fine with the first part but when he heard the last part his face showed that of devastation.

"Your grace, please I-"

"Enough. It is either this or death. I will ask once; do you want this or death?" Harry asked.

"I-…I will accept your gracious proposal." Asal relented, not that he had much of a choice. Harry turned and looked at Merri who no longer seemed so angry but was probably still wishing for a harsher punishment.

"We're done here." Harry said walking away to get some much-needed rest after so much happening.


	16. Chapter 16

_May 1272_

Harry stood on a battlefield and stared impassively as he walked past all the Nilfgaardian bodies that had just tried to invade his kingdom. Seems they had gotten rather bold recently from their success further South. He was tempted to go on a massacre and show these annoying Southerners what true power was.

"Burn the bodies, melt the armor. We can't afford monsters coming to feast on them." Harry yelled out. That was pretty standard in his kingdom and lots of places in the North actually. He then started to slowly walk away from the scene. His army had managed to deal with the invaders easily enough, mainly because they had not yet fully crossed and only part of their force was here.

He knew he could fix the problem by also putting a border on the Redanian side but he was hesitant to do so with how many refugees were crossing over. He wouldn't want anyone to be stuck with Radovid, the insane asshole.

"I am leaving. Send a raven if you need to tell me something." Harry said as he disappeared in a swirl, leaving the men in awe.

He reappeared back in Ard Calleigh where he had taken to living for the time being. He continued to let Cassandra run the kingdom for the most part but he was still in charge of the military.

His forces now numbered between fifty and sixty thousand soldiers and growing. He was also starting a unit of magic users as well as a guerilla force. They numbered close to fifty but they could certainly do some damage with their abilities. He had taken to watching their training under Shaella in Pont Vanis. Boy, she was not happy about that but Harry had hinted that it would be in her best interest if she insisted on 'aiding' the Empire. If the Lodge wanted to get in his good graces then they sure as hell were going to have to work for it.

Besides them, he also had himself plus his dragons. That made him the strongest force in the North by far. Redania had an impressive number of soldiers given its size due to Radovid spurring them all into a fanatical, patriotic, frenzy. Of course, Radovid also had a bunch of Witch Hunters patrolling his lands. He still remembered when that blasted church had approached him for entry into his empire.

" _What did you just say to me priest?" Harry asked coldly as he stared hard at the quivering man in bright red and white who gulped and steeled himself._

" _Your grace, I meant no offence. I only wished to point out the benefits of-…" The priest tried to say only for Harry to cut him off once more._

" _I heard what you fucking said. Do you not think my ears work priest? Or perhaps, you believe me too incompetent to process the words coming out of your mouth?" Harry suggested with genuine anger in his eyes._

" _No, your grace. I simply wished to say that allowing the church entry into your Kingdoms would give the people-…"_

" _A way to express irrational hatred on those born more gifted than them perhaps? Are you dull in the head priest or are you willfully ignoring the fact that I myself am a powerful magic user? Now, you come into my city, look into my eyes, and have the_ _ **AUDACITY**_ _to proclaim the greatness of your two-bit fucking fire cult. The same cult that has been burning my fellow magic brothers and sisters at the stake for nothing more than being born with more than you. You dare ask ME, for permission to bring your hate onto my lands? No. my answer is and always will be no. In fact, I declare any member of the church of the Eternal Fire an enemy of the state and demand the head of any member who steps onto my lands." Harry demanded in front of his court. The priest gawked at him and the rest of the court looked rather surprised by his declaration._

" _I-…"_

" _You have three days to get out of my kingdom. I would get going if I were you since you don't appear to have a horse." Harry told him darkly before making a dismissive motion with his hand. He had never seen a priest run so quickly in his life._

That had been fun to say to that little prick. The church would get what was coming to them one day. If they wanted to solve this with violence then he would be more than happy to oblige, and he knew there were others that would be happy to oblige as well. Radovid had made a lot of internal enemies during his reign. He briefly wondered where Phillipa Eilhart was lurking. He bet she would spend a fortune to have a shot at the king.

He sighed as he made his way into his main office now that he had given Cassandra the main one of the keep. Inside, he found a familiar face waiting for him. It was Luther the head servant of the keep.

"Luther," He said in greeting, "What can I do for you?"

"Your grace, your acquaintance, Geralt of Rivia is here to see you and he is here with an older gentleman as well." Luther told him. Harry smiled at that.

"That is good. Where are they?" Harry asked him.

"They are waiting in the courtyard since Lady Cassandra is currently holding court in the main hall." Lither told him.

"Good, thank you Luther. You are dismissed." Harry said before walking off towards the courtyard. Harry moved down through the keep and outside into the courtyard. Luther was correct, Geralt and Vesemir were standing off to the side and talking to each other quietly. They got a few looks from soldiers and people moving in and out of the keep but no one bothered them, which was good since he would have punished any who did.

"Geralt, my friend." Harry yelled out with a smile. Geralt and Vesemir stopped as they looked over at him. When he got close, he and Geralt grasped arms in greeting and Harry smiled at the stoic man.

"It's good to see you again. It's good to officially meet you Master Vesemir, I have heard quite a bit about you from back in the day when you were out and about. An impressive reputation." Harry said as he moved over to respectfully shake his hand. The man returned it easily.

"Well, to be known by a King of your status is quite an honor." Vesemir said back respectfully. Harry waved that off.

"None of that, any friend of Geralt is a friend of mine. You may call me Hadrian." Harry told him easily. Vesemir nodded at that.

"Very well the, Hadrian." He seemed to try it out. Harry nodded in approval before looking at Geralt and became more serious.

"It has only been a few months Geralt, I take it you are not here on a social visit, especially since you are arriving with company. What can I help you with my friend?" Harry said as they began to slowly walk shoulder to shoulder around the keep with Vesemir trailing behind them.

"A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter, from Yennefer." Geralt said as he looked to him. Harry smirked.

"And now you march to your death, is that it?" He asked in amusement. Geralt shook his head.

"No, she said she needed to talk, she said it was important and to find her. I know she is heading North, I was wondering if you could help point me in the right direction." Geralt replied. Harry hummed at that.

"She's not exactly keeping a low profile. If I were you, I would go to White Orchard. Nilfgaard took it over last month and she seems to be going North for some reason. I assume she has some task in the Northern Kingdoms. Velen has been left alone for the most part, I hear some Baron pledged allegiance to Nilfgaard in exchange for continued control." Harry told him.

"Any idea why she would be going North? I somehow doubt it's just to meet me." Geralt asked. Harry shrugged.

"Hmmm… There was a magical burst somewhere in Velen about a week and a half ago. Pretty noticeable too. Maybe she wants you to help her find out about it." Harry suggested. Geralt gained a thoughtful expression.

"Still seems strange for her. And you don't know anything about the burst?" He pressed. Harry shook his head.

"No, I figured it was just an experiment gone wrong. It felt like dimensional energy so probably a portal, or something similar to it, was made incorrectly." Harry told him. Geralt nodded.

"I guess that will do." Geralt said to him.

"You're not leaving, already are you?" Harry asked. Geralt nodded.

"We have to leave, Yennefer seemed pretty serious about getting there as fast as possible." Geralt said. Harry groaned.

"You never want to catch up Geralt. Well…fine. Make sure you take some supplies for your trip, and I will not take no for an answer." Harry said as he watched Geralt try to interrupt. He seemed to bow to Harry's wishes though, and allowed it.

"Fine." He grunted. Harry smiled at that before calling out for a servant. One quickly ran out to him and bowed before the three of them.

"What can I do for you, your grace?" the bowed young man asked. Harry looked down at his bowing form.

"These men, need supplies for a journey all the way to White Orchard and then some. Make sure they are fully outfitted before they leave no matter how much they try to downplay their need. Am I understood?" Harry asked sternly. The man nodded frantically.

"Of course. Right this way gentleman." The servant said gesturing out of the courtyard and back into the town.

"Good luck Geralt. Remember, I am only just a letter away. Also, let me know if that explosion turns out to be interesting. If Yennefer is involved, it must be." Harry said kindly and Geralt nodded quietly as he always did.

"Thank you, Hadrian." Vesemir voiced out. Harry smiled at the man. He was older and clearly more experienced in talking and diplomacy despite Geralt's fame as far as Witchers go.

"Your welcome, Master Witcher." Harry responded back easily.

He said his goodbyes to the two men before leading them out of the busy keep. He watched them go until they disappeared further down the street. He had a gentle smile on his face until they disappeared from his view. His smile dropped and a crow landed lightly on his shoulder from an invisible call he had just sent out.

"Go to Velen and explore that magical blast."

Harry watched the crow absorb the order and take off and fly high up until it disappeared from view. Harry frowned as he thought on what he was just told. Yennefer was a powerful sorceress and her asking for help even from Geralt on something was rather strange, especially if it did turn out to be a magical matter.

Emhyr wouldn't just send one of his best mages into the Northern Kingdoms, which would no doubt be hostile to her in its current circumstances. Something must be important for him to send her specifically and there really wasn't anything else that may concern Yennefer save for that explosion he had felt.

He made a grunting noise in his throat. He would wait for his crows to let him know what it found. He would not jump to any conclusions just yet. Hopefully, Geralt would actually send him some news.

 _Several Weeks Later_

 _Geralt's POV_

Geralt walked out of the Emperors solar and moved through the castle back to Yennefer. It was all almost overwhelming to here what was happening.

Ciri had apparently returned to this world and was already making waves. He should have known Emhyr summoned him for something to do with her, the man wasn't exactly known for being friendly with others. What's worse, Yennefer had already seemed to agree to aid the man in finding her.

If there was one thing Geralt was sure of it was that Yennefer loved Ciri and would not be working with Nilfgaard if she felt they would be a threat to her. Then again, even if he found Ciri, he couldn't imagine her willingly coming back and becoming Emhyr's heir again. They weren't exactly on best terms and Ciri wasn't a flowery girl who would enjoy sitting in dresses, making decisions, and being courted by those seeking power.

He sighed at the whole situation. He wasn't sure how he kept getting in these complex situations that no Witcher had any business in being in. He cleared his head as he got back to the room where he knew Yennefer was waiting for him.

He hesitated for a moment before he entered. He and Yen had not really talked much on the trip to Vizima beyond simple conversation. Of course, it could just be because of the retinue of soldiers and lack of privacy during the trip.

He shook his head at that, he knew it wasn't true. They hadn't cleared the air about all that had past since they last saw each other. He was sure that she knew what he had been up to. He had no idea what her reaction was going to be what with what had happened between him and Triss. Sure, he hadn't known at the time due to his memory loss but he doubted it would matter to Yen.

"Are you going to stand out there all day?"

Geralt looked up at the door as he heard the familiar voice come from the other side. He shook his head once more thought this time in a small amount of amusement before reaching for the handle and opening the door. He scanned the room and saw Yennefer standing over by the fireplace that had a picture of a young Cirilla in a dress sitting over it.

Yennefer was eyeing the picture and Geralt walked over and joined her in eyeing it. If he were honest, it was an amazing picture, everything from the annoyed scowl on her face to the stiff posture simply screamed Ciri. For a moment, he almost felt some deep nostalgia overtake him as he thought back to simpler days when he trained is surrogate daughter out in the yard of Kaer Morhen.

"Yennefer about the last few-"

"Don't… There's nothing to say about it Geralt. We both know what happened and while I am not exactly pleased by it, I do not hold it against you. Let us simply move past it and focus on our current task." Yennefer said as she looked over at him sternly.

Geralt looked at her and saw the way her eyebrows scrunched together as she looked at him seriously. He was temporarily taken by her beauty and was hit by emotions he had not had in a long time. She was beautiful, elegant, yet the scariest thing he had ever laid his eyes on.

Although he showed nothing on his face, he saw her raise an amused eyebrow at him and the hint of a smirk come across her lips. She must have read his thoughts, not that it bothered him. He had never felt the need to hide anything from her.

She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. He felt the place where her lips had pressed against him warm up and send a pleasant feeling into him. He made a pleasant hum as he felt the feeling spread and course through him. He looked at her in question.

"Make no mistake, I missed you as well Geralt." She told him pointedly.

Her words were almost as pleasant as the kiss she had just placed on him. He gave a small smile before nodding.

"So, where do we go from here?" Geralt asked her.

"Someone matching Ciri's description has been sighted in three different places; Velen, Novigrad, and on Skellige. I figured you can check in Velen and Novigrad while I go check in Skellige. We would cover more ground that way." She pointed out. Geralt nodded at that.

"Are we sure that this is Ciri and not some ghost or doppleganger?" Geralt asked.

"We are not positive, of course, but given what we know and the clues we have found, I believe that it is legitimately her. The timing of both that magical presence in Velen as the sudden appearance of someone who looks exactly like her can't be ignored. Plus, the power behind that magic certainly points to Ciri as well. Not to mention the Wild Hunt's appearance pretty much confirms it."

Geralt nodded at her words and looked into the fire place as he thought further on what she had said.

"And if we find her, are we actually bringing her back to Emhyr?" Geralt questioned as he gave her a look. Yennefer seemed to grimace at that.

"I admit, it is not the solution I had hoped for but I believe it to be the best one available." Yennefer confided quietly.

"You think Ciri is going to go along with this?" Geralt pushed.

"I think she will understand this is the best solution." Yennefer said back. Anyone else would think she sounded confident in what she had said but Geralt knew better. He could see the subtle shift in her posture and the way her fingers twitched as she spoke. In truth, Geralt doubted she truly knew what Ciri would agree to. All she probably wanted to do was convince her to stay so her adopted daughter would not leave so quickly again.

Geralt tensed as another thought came into his head, a certain memory he had been purposefully not trying to think of mainly because it had seemed so… unbelievable.

"There… may be another way." Geralt said slowly. Yennefer looked at him with clear confusion in her eyes.

"I assume you know of Hadrian Black, the current king the Avalonian Empire?" Geralt questioned.

"Of course, I assume every person on the planet knows of him at this point. He almost singlehandedly created his Empire and is undefeated in any conflct. He created a kingdom, and took over two and all in less than a decade. Most would consider that impossible." Yennefer said to him. Geralt nodded.

"Well, as you know, I knew him as the Black Mage before he became King and after a certain issue with an assassin years ago, he told me something… strange. He confessed to know Ciri from a different world, his original one, the one we read of in his journal all those years ago." Geralt told her. Yennefer's lips parted as she looked at him in clear surprise.

"When did he tell you this?" she demanded.

"Do you remember when I killed Rience? That night, he told me and Dandelion a story of how an adult Ciri came to his world and played an important impact on his life. He spoke of how he came to this world on accident but has been working to aid Ciri since his arrival without disrupting the events surrounding her too much." Geralt told her. Yennefer's face scrunched up in thought and she started pacing. Geralt watched her.

"You stopped and saw him in on the way to see me did you not? Did you remember this then?" She asked. Geralt shook his head.

"He erased my memory of the conversation from my mind but I believe it was more to prevent me from accidently changing something before Ciri left. I am not sure if he would try to do something again to me." Geralt told her. Yennefer frowned at that before going back to her pacing. Geralt simply let her. This whole plotting and planning thing wasn't something he excelled at so he decided to wait for Yennefer to finish.

"You think he means to help Ciri and that is all? He does have responsibilities to his Empire now." Yennefer pointed out.

"I think he would. He spent many years planning on how to aid Ciri from what I remember. I doubt he would simply throw out all that work." Geralt said back.

"You know him Geralt, I am asking you on your personal feeling, what do you think he would do?" Yennefer asked looking seriously at him. Geralt looked down as he thought on all his encounters with Hadrian or Harry as he use to be known as.

The man had been nothing but a friend to him for as long as he had known him. Now that he thought on it, it was likely because of his relationship with Ciri, at least to some extent. Despite the whole issue with him getting his memory erased, he did trust Hadrian. The man may have been mysterious but he had always treated Geralt with kindness. If he looked at the deeds he had done as King, he also approved of the way he acted. The man had morals and if he didn't like something in the world, he did his best to change it. It was something different then like, more of respect.

"I think we should consider telling him about this. Not only because of his possible relationship with Ciri but also the resources he has that we could use. It's no secret that even Nilfgaard hasn't found an actual way to counter his power, armies, or dragons. His kingdom is also extremely wealthy." Geralt pointed out. Yennefer considered his words. Her face was hard as she thought on what he said before it softened, then a small soft smile appeared on her face.

"I remember the first time I met him. I asked him if he could heal my organs so I could bear a child. He refused but told me of how I would one day have a daughter anyways. I would just have to keep my eyes open for the opportunity." Yennefer revealed. Geralt processed that information. She had never told him that but it made sense. Hadrian had a long time to plan out and familiarize himself with all those who Ciri surrounded herself with.

"Not as surprising given all that we now know." Geralt said easily.

"I will leave it up to you whether or not to contact him. If you decide to do it, make sure you wait until you are at least out of Vizima. We will need to be discreet. I doubt Emhyr would appreciate us contacting this man despite his supposed relation to Ciri." Yennefer pointed out. Geralt agreed with that at least.

"I will make sure I am out of sight. When do we depart?" Geralt asked her.

"Tomorrow morning."

"…Does that mean we have some time tonight then?" Geralt asked with the clear suggestion in his voice. Yennefer gave him a sly smirk.

"So eager. Unfortunately, we have no time for pleasantries tonight. It's already late and I doubt your stamina has decreased since we last saw each other. We don't have all night you know, we have to get up early." Yennefer told him.

"I'll still be able to get up." Geralt pointed out.

"I won't."

Geralt chuckled as he moved away from her. Tomorrow, they would ride to the North together.

 _One Week Later_

 _Harry's POV_

Harry stood in the town of Ban Glean, in the southern part of Kaedwen. It is where he had assembled most of the military might of Kaedwen as well as three of his dragons. He was in a tent full of the various lords of the land as they went over some of the losses they had over the past couple of weeks due to either skirmishes or raids.

Elven raiders had been sneaking in through the forest that laid between the Kestrel and Mahakam mountain ranges. Since the forest was on both the Redanian and Kaedwen lands, they would simply crossover at Redania and then move over to Kaedwen, around his wall. Luckily, you could not bring any sort of real presence through the woods and really only the Squirrels, or Scoia'tael as they preferred, could come over in any real number.

"They are going to pick at us and try to weaken us over time. Once Nilfgaard realizes they can't get past your wall, there is only one way they could get into Kaedwen, the pass through the Kestrel Mountains."

Harry looked at the Lord who spoke as they all huddled around a map. The man spoke the truth. Emhyr would know this by now and would be focusing on taking Redania from Radovid before trying to deal with him. That being said, it was clear the man was using his elven allies to try and soften him up while he was delayed.

"Could we not convince them to abandon Nilfgaard for us? Surely, with the policies you have implemented you have shown our kingdom to be a friend to all people and would treat them fairly." Another much younger noble asked.

"No. At this point, it's not about the rights or benefits they would get, it's about getting even with those in the North who wronged them and treated them like they were lower than dirt for so long. They simply want us to hurt and they won't stop until they show us all what it's like." Harry responded quietly without taking his eyes off the map. The room went silent at his words but Harry continued to try and puzzle out where to find their enemies. His eyes drifted over to the mountain range itself.

"They're hiding in the mountain ranges." Harry said out loud after a moment of thought. All the assembled lords looked at the mountains and the older more experienced ones frowned at this.

"The mountains…that's a lot of land to search through. There's also no way to send any sizeable force into the mountains to route them out." The lord who had first spoken said. Harry looked at the map intently.

It made sense that they would hide there, it was somewhere where they had a much easier time getting to then normal men and armies would. It was also easier to defend since they would have the high ground the whole time which means they could pick them off while their men would have to only try and defend themselves. It would take a very powerful force to get up and attack which would be impossible considering how hard it would be to get up the mountain.

"I have a plan. I will have my scouts go in and find their encampments, then I will use the dragons to route them out of their locations and back down the mountain. We will have our men waiting at the bottom to deal with the stragglers." Harry said to all of them. He heard a murmur as they thought about what he had said.

"That could still take a lot of time, no offence your grace but we are still not sure they are in the mountains, although I agree that it would make sense for them to be there. There are no scouts that could possibly scout the whole range in any sort of timely manner. That could take months if not years." Another of the lords pointed out to him. Harry shook his head.

"Do not worry about that, my scouts have magic at their disposal and will be much less hindered than others." Harry told them. That seemed to assuage the fears of the men.

"In the meantime, we need to protect the villages closest to the mountains. Lord Kalder, you will take your men and protect every thing south of the pass. Lord Hartley, you will protect the northern half. If you need reinforcements, you are given leave to request men from the various nearby lords to aid your quest." Harry ordered. Both the Lords he had called upon bowed and agreed to his orders easily. Both could field the biggest host in the Kaedwen and were each powerful in their own right.

"What of the rest of the Kingdoms under the Avalonian banner? Will they not be aiding us?"

Harry looked up but could not identify who spoke. He didn't need to though as he saw the question mirrored in all the assembled mens eyes.

"Kovir and Poviss, will be sending spare resources from their stores to supplement the fact that Kaedwen will be missing out on much of the collection of their own resources. Avalon and the various settlements around it will be working to send weapons and armor down to outfit as much of the army as possible. It will work on a loan system of course but it will have to do. " Harry told them easily.

"What about men?"

"As of right now, there is no need for more men to be sent to Kaedwen, the situation right now is still not too problematic nor desperate. Should that change and I believe you can no longer handle the foreign threat, then of course, I will send more men down to reinforce you."

That seemed to satisfy them all. With that, Harry concluded the meeting and had them all leave the room. He sighed as he watched them shuffle out to most likely go back out of the town and sleep in their encampments. The inn was already overflowing with how many lords that were here.

He left the meeting room himself and moved over to the home he had been lent for the brief time he was here. It was owned by a mage named Henry who seemed to own an importing and exporting business which wasn't that surprising considering his skill in magic wasn't that impressive. Harry had been thankful and had accepted the offer of the man despite the fact that he barely spent any of his time in the house.

He entered the home and heard a caw as soon as he entered the room. He looked up in surprise and looked at the crow that was sitting perched up in the rafters of the house. It flew down to him as soon as it had been noticed and landed on his shoulder. He smiled as he looked at it as he was finally getting some news.

"What do you have to report little one…"

The crow placed hits forehead against the side of his head and immediately memories came flooding into his mind. He observed them thoroughly.

The crow had gone to Velen and seen what all the commotion was about. It got to the sight of the explosion but he noticed there was a surprisingly lacking amount of damage. Actually, it looked more like some fight had happened in the forest. He continued as the crow flew around the forest following the signs of what appeared to be something or someone that had made their way through the forest from the initial sight.

After a while, it came upon the corpse of several wolfs and then a werewolf. Harry started to frown at that. The fact that a werewolf was dead did not surprise him, it was how it looked to have died. He had assumed it was a foolish mage that had caused the explosion further in the forest but the hybrid had deep cuts all over its body that suggested it was killed by a sword. With the depth and nasty look of each cut, it would have to have been made by a Witcher or one of the rare humans of equal skill.

As he came to that, he almost immediately concluded this to be the truth as he further noticed the precision of each cut. Witcher's were pretty rare these days but he supposed it was possible. Did that mean that this Witcher had killed the mage who caused the explosion or did they perhaps simply come upon the scene?

Of course, it could also have been… Well he didn't even dare to actually hope for that. Although, the pieces did add up surprisingly well, now that he thought about it. Witcher training, and from the sight of dimensional energy in abundance in the area. Come to think of it, if it wasn't an explosion than it was more likely a controlled but powerful burst. A controlled burst of that much energy though could only be done with someone with a large amount of power. He could do it but there weren't many on this planet who could do so without several power stones.

Harry was brought from his musings as a knock suddenly came from the door. He frowned and was jarred from the memories his little friend had provided by the noise. He frowned and moved back towards the door. It was strange for anyone to be coming by this late in the day. Extending his sense out into magic, he sensed no danger coming from outside. Perhaps a simple late-night visitor then. He opened the large doors and looked out.

There was a guard for the town carrying a torch and a nervous looking man with him in a uniform that showed him to be some sort of courier.

"Sorry to bother you, your grace, but this man insisted that he must see you as soon as possible. He claims to be carrying a letter for your eyes only." The guard said as he looked at the man suspiciously.

"Thank you. I will take it from here." Harry nodded to show his appreciation towards the man for escorting the courier up here. He looked at the courier who reached into a pouch he was carrying before giving him the letter. Harry gingerly took it before then thanking the man and watching him disappear down the street. He closed the door and turned around back into the house as he eyed the letter carefully.

He sensed no magic from the parchment. Looking at it showed the parchment wasn't of any particular notable quality which meant it was not likely sent by someone of noble status. With the suspense growing, he finally broke the seal and opened the letter. His eyes scanned over the contents growing more and more pressed as he continued to read on.

Once finished, he dropped it on the ground as his mind started racing with what he had just absorbed. Geralt had written to him after all, and the results were more than even he expected. Ciri was back in this world and in the Northern Kingdoms.

The time had finally come for all he had worked for to come to fruition.


	17. Chapter 17

_June 1272_

 _Geralt's POV_

Geralt sighed in frustration as he exited the Manor at Crow's Perch after dealing with the Bloody Baron for the last hour and investigating the disappearance of the man's wife and daughter. When he had met the man, he had not thought him to be so bad, if a little blunt. He wasn't so sure what to think of the man now. He seemed to be remorseful but if the wife truly did not want to return then he wasn't sure he wanted to force her.

Geralt was thrown from his thoughts suddenly as he saw something approaching him quickly. He barely had time to dodge out of the way and he only managed to due to his superior reflexes. He rolled to the side and identified the object as a man flying backwards extremely quickly until he smashed into the side of the manor and crumpled to the floor. He blinked and looked over towards the direction the man had come. He was more than a little surprised to see Hadrian standing in the middle of a group of men all pointing their weapons at him looking fearful.

"The next person who approaches me with their glorified pointy stick, I will give them a first-hand experience on what it feels like to spontaneously combust." Hadrian said in a much calmer tone than the glare on his face would suggest. He looked irate and much more ruffled then Geralt had ever seen him before.

"Wots spontanos combuschion?" One of the guards asked quietly.

"You're about to find out." Hadrian gritted out. Suddenly, lightning started crackling around him angrily. The men took several steps back in fear.

"Hadrian." Geralt called out to try and stop him from killing anyone. Hadrian looked at him and suddenly the anger in his eyes faded into one of questioning. He immediately started walking towards him.

"Geralt, finally. What have you found. Where is Ciri?" Hadrian asked him very quickly. Geralt rose an eyebrow at that. He had never seen the man so… flustered.

"It's good to see you to. No, I have not found Ciri, I am following a lead on her right now. Why don't you join me?" Geralt asked calmly. It would probably be a good idea to talk privately to Hadrian away from present eyes.

"Yes, of course. Let's go now." Hadrian agreed immediately and turned to walk away. Geralt quickly caught up and got into step next to the powerful sorcerer. They said nothing to each other as they walked out of Crow's Perch. Geralt noticed that the inner gates that separated the village from the keep looked to be deeply scorched and blown open and off its hinges. He glanced at Hadrian but he seemed to be innocently ignoring his gaze. Once they finally got out of the village, Geralt finally decided to speak as he hopped on Roach.

"I wasn't sure you were going to show up." Geralt said. He watched for a moment as Hadrian waved his hand and the dirt rose and took form into a dirt horse. The horse then seemed to change right in front of his eyes from dirt into a living, breathing, black stallion. He blinked as Hadrian smoothly got on top of it.

"Well, I had to make sure that my associates were prepared for my disappearance." Hadrian replied. Geralt nodded.

"I see… Can you make other animals?" Geralt asked curiously. Hadrian nodded.

"Pretty much any, though it's really just like animating the dirt and changing its appearance to my thoughts. It's not a real horse of course. I could make monsters but I can only mimic aesthetics of the creature, not their abilities." He explained. Geralt was pretty sure he understood what the man was saying.

"Hm."

"Enough with the useless chat. Tell me about the search, Geralt. How close are we?" Hadrian finally pressed.

"Not close, we have a few leads and I am following one right now. Yennefer is following up on a lead in Skellige. I need to check in on Velen and Novigrad." Geralt explained. Harry frowned.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised even Yennefer could not locate Ciri." Hadrian said in annoyance.

"She has ways to locate her but as soon as she does, the Wild Hunt hone in on her and try and attack her apparently." Geralt revealed. Hadrian looked at him in surprise.

"She actually has a way to track Ciri? Most impressive. I have not yet figured out a way to do so. Her magic is aligned to much with dimensional energy for me to lock on to her with anything." Hadrian revealed.

"That's Yen for you."

"So where are we going?" Hadrian asked.

"We are going to a man called the Pellar who may know something about the Baron's wife." Geralt explained. Hadrian looked at him in confusion.

"You believe this woman knows the location of Ciri?"

"No, Ciri was here a while ago and the Baron won't tell me where she went until I find his wife and daughter." Geralt explained. He hadn't registered Hadrian had stopped riding next to him until he felt an ice-cold chill suddenly surround him. He looked around and saw Hadrian several meters back staring at him in angry

"What?" Hadrian asked quietly.

"What?" Geralt said back in confusion.

"You mean to tell me that we are wasting time on some stupid errand just to appease this man enough to get him to tell us information that he should be giving us naturally?" Hadrian clarified. Geralt nodded not seeing the issue. This is how it usually went with royals and nobles. They always wanted something.

"Yes." Geralt said. Hadrian said nothing as he immediately turned and headed back the way they came.

"Where are you going?"

"I am going to go back to Crows Perch and kindly ask him to give me the information. If he does not than I will rip the information from his mind and leave him an empty husk for trying to blackmail us with vital information." Hadrian replied easily. Geralt processed the words for a moment and his eyes widened a fraction of an inch.

"What? Wait, we can't just go back and torture him for the information. What about his men?" Geralt tried to reason. Hadrian was powerful, he knew that for sure, but it only took one stray arrow to put him down permanently.

"Those men are barely better than bandits. If they get in the way then they get what is coming to them." Hadrian said simply.

"Hadrian…"

"Geralt, let's look at this logically. I am not saying this man doesn't deserve to find his family, but Ciri's fate is the fate of the entire world. If the Wild Hunt gets their hands on her then were all fucked. We have no time for this." Hadrian said right back. Geralt couldn't agree more, but he wasn't exactly comfortable with what Hadrian was planning to do. It must've been obvious to Hadrian, as the man moved to reassure him.

"Look, if the man doesn't give us much trouble, I will help him find his wife and daughter. Unless they are drenched in dimensional magic like CIri, I should be able to find them easy enough, even if they are hidden behind wards or enchantments." Hadrian said. Geralt did feel a little better about that.

They arrived back in Crow's Perch and moved past the village. The guards didn't exactly look pleased to see them back and, for once, it didn't look like it was his fault. They all seemed to be giving distrustful looks towards Hadrian.

"They don't like you." Geralt observed.

"Good, I don't like them. I'm just waiting for one of these pieces of shit to step a toe out of line so I have an excuse…" Hadrian mumbled. Geralt still caught it of course, and smirked.

They re-entered the keep and were met by the sergeant. He didn't look so confident as when Geralt had first entered alone. He looked puffed up as he gazed at Hadrian but anyone with eyes could see he had a palpable fear to him.

"Back so soon?" He asked suspiciously.

"Get the fuck out of my way before I teleport you several thousand feet into the air and have you enter a free fall." Hadrian threatened. Geralt rose an eyebrow at hearing that but the Sergeant didn't need to be told twice as he immediately moved away. Harry moved forward into the manor. He opened the door with a crack.

Geralt looked as they entered and noticed the door had been locked. Hadrian had apparently broken straight through. Geralt briefly wondered if Harry had done a magic spell or had just brute forced the door open. He heard a loud grunt and looked up to see the Baron being lifted off the ground by Hadrian with one hand while his other hand had a ball of fire being held dangerously close to the large mans face.

"Let me make this immediately clear. Geralt was nice enough to appease to your very unreasonable request to find your wayward family. I am not nearly as nice as Geralt. We are on a very limited timeline to find Ciri and I don't have time to be blackmailed so, here are your options. You tell me where she went immediately and I may use some of my limited kindness to help find your family. The second option is that you refuse and I use magic to rip the information from your thick skull. I then leave you and your familial issues to rot. Choose which option you want, now." Hadrian finished.

"Ack. Let go!"

"If the next thing out of your mouth isn't which option you wish for, then I will choose for you and I promise, you will not like my choice." Hadrian threatened. Geralt had a thought that maybe he should step in at this point but wasn't quite sure. Just as he was about to say something, the Baron spoke.

"Alright. I said alright! Let me go you damn sorcerer." The Baron yelled. Hadrian dropped him and the huge man fell to the ground and started coughing violently as he tried to re-catch his breath.

"You made the choice." Hadrian told him.

"Damn you!"

"Damn me? Go to hell you piece of shit. You dare blackmail a father trying to find his daughter, who is being chased by some of the most dangerous beings this world knows? You're lucky Geralt is here otherwise I would offer you the same mercy you gave us." Hadrian hissed back. The Baron looked up at him with a glare but said nothing at his words. Geralt didn't approve of the method personally but he couldn't help but agree. He needed to find Ciri and while he had some sympathy for the Baron, blackmailing him was above what he would normally allow.

"Well?" Hadrian asked.

"Novigrad… The lass went to Novigrad." The Baron admitted. Hadrian growled but said nothing else. He turned towards Geralt.

"See, sometimes being an ass pays off." He said pointedly. Geralt gave him the flattest stare he could give.

"Stop looking at me like that. So, how are we doing this?" Hadrian asked.

"Doing what?" Geralt asked.

"Getting to Novigrad. If I remember correctly, you hate magical means of travel. Will you allow me to teleport us there?"

"I'd rather take Roach." Geralt told him easily but also trying to impress upon the sorcerer how much he did not want to travel magically. Hadrian rolled his eyes.

"Fine," Hadrian mumbled as he looked down at the Baron again.

"Give me and Geralt lodging for the night and when he leaves in the morning I will leave as well to go and find your wife and daughter." Hadrian told him. Despite the anger from being manhandled, the Baron regained a look of hope.

"Do you actually think you can find them?" The man asked.

"Most likely. I have several spells in my arsenal that should reveal their location." Hadrian said in a much easier tone. Geralt rose an eyebrow and Hadrian noticed it.

"What? He gave me what I needed so he is no longer an obstacle in our goal." Hadrian said. Geralt just shook his head and the Baron finally stood and gave Hadrian a queer look but said nothing.

"You have my hospitality for the night then." The Baron finally said.

It was several hours later that he and Hadrian sat at a fire outside the manor. The Baron had turned in for the night and the courtyard was completely empty save for him and Hadrian.

"So… about your memory." Hadrian finally said to him. Geralt looked over at him and waited for him to explain. He had an idea of what he was going to say already.

"It was nothing personal or anything, and I did plan to restore your memory after Ciri finally came back to this world. I just wanted to make sure nothing changed too much." Hadrian explained. Geralt took a moment but nodded.

"It's okay. I'm not exactly happy you did it but I suppose I understand why…"

"Still. It wasn't something nice to do to someone I call a friend. I apologize for my actions and hope I can make it up to you some day."

"You can make it up to me by explaining what your plans are for Ciri." Geralt demanded. Hadrian looked at him in confusion.

"Plans?"

"Yes. What do you wish to gain from aligning with her?" Geralt asked. He didn't really believe Hadrian did have ulterior motives when it came to Ciri, but Yennefer had implored him to check just in case.

"I don't have any plans for Ciri. I plan to find her and then help solve any problem she has with all the resources available to me." Hadrian said back.

"You would go to war for her?" Geralt asked with some surprise.

"Of course, why do you think I bothered to make a kingdom in the first place. I created it to back Ciri to discourage anyone from trying to take advantage of her." Hadrian told him. Geralt froze at that.

"Wait. You made your entire kingdom just to help Ciri?"

"That is what I said."

"Seems… extreme."

"Perhaps. While growing up in my original world, I would have done anything to help my friends. I had not had any friends until I first came to gain my magical education so the friends I made, I was desperate to keep. Relationships are something I cherish deeply. One thing I never seemed to have enough of was influence. I couldn't change the things around me and it caused a lot of issues. Given how much time I had in this world, I planned a lot and made designs on how to expand my kingdom for years." Hadrian explained. Geralt grunted.

"Well, you seem to be doing pretty well with that. You make up more than half of the remaining Northern Kingdoms. Do you actually think you can hold up against Nilfgaard?" Geralt asked. If Ciri did truly have a relationship with Hadrian then it was likely she would choose to go with him rather than her father. Emyhr probably wouldn't be too happy about that.

"I'm sure I could. I mean, I could just go and off all the nobles and officials in Nilfgaard if I want. The only reason I haven't killed Emyhr yet is because I will leave his fate up to Ciri. I, personally, do not like the man." Hadrian told him.

"You know, Emyhr has several sorcerers and sorceresses under his banner. Do you think that you can get pass all of them?" Geralt asked.

"Geralt, I don't think you realize how much I constantly hold back to make sure I don't just kill any and everything around me. If I truly wanted, I could destroy entire cities with a single spell. I just don't like killing tons of innocents to do so…" Hadrian explained. Geralt inhaled sharply at that knowledge.

"Are… you serious?" Geralt asked.

"Yep."

They sat in silence again and simply stared at the fire in front of them. Geralt thought on what Hadrian had told him and other questions he may have.

"Your name… Is it actually Hadrian?" Geralt asked.

"Yes and No. My full name is actually Hadrian James Potter, but I was mostly called Harry for short where I came from. Hadrian fit in better here though and Black is another one of the families I was part of and aided in my disguise." Hadrian, or Harry, told him. Geralt nodded.

"Is that it?" Hadrian asked. Geralt thought for a moment before shrugging.

"Yes." He said simply. Hadrian smiled in amusement.

"So… You're actually going to help with finding the man's family?"

"Might as well. Since you're going to take a few days to get to Novigrad. We'll have to start from scratch once we get there. I don't suppose you have any contacts there?" Hadrian asked.

"I should be asking you that." Geralt said right back. Hadrian shrugged.

"I have a few little birds there but they haven't reported anything to me so they must have not seen her. We'll have to do it the hard way I suppose." Hadrian said to him. Geralt nodded but he had already figured something like that.

"Dandelion is in Novigrad. If Ciri was in Novigrad, then she likely went to him. I'll go to see him first and see if he knows anything." Geralt told him. Hadrian nodded at that. They sat in silence for the rest of their stay in the courtyard until Geralt bid Hadrian goodnight and headed back to the manor. He made it to the room the Baron had given him and laid in the comfortable bed.

 _Next Morning_

 _Hadrian POV_

Harry stood next to Roach as Geralt smoothly slung himself on top of the horse. He looked up at Geralt as he adjusted himself.

"How long do you think it will take you to get to Novigrad?" Harry asked him.

"Hmm. Three or four days." Geralt told him. Hadrian nodded.

"It'll probably take me a day or two to finish up with this and then I'll arrive in Novigrad. Here…" Harry said as he pulled out a small, metal, wolf charm.

"Hold this and speak my true name and I will know you have arrived. I will meet you at the Southernmost gate and inform you of anything I have discovered." Harry told him. Geralt took the charm and nodded. Harry watched his companion examine it closely before pocketing it.

"Alright. I shall see you when I arrive then." Geralt said before urging Roach on and speeding off down the road. Harry watched him go.

"So, are you going to go looking for my family then." Baron asked from behind him. He turned and gave the man a hard look.

"That is what I said I would do. You'll find that I am a man of my word." Harry said to him coldly. The Baron tensed but said nothing more.

Harry turned and started a mumbled chant in a mixture of latin and ancient Greek. Slowly a gold light appeared in front of him and started to trace out letters in front of him. It spelt out the name 'Tamara Strenger' and a number appeared under her with an arrow pointing out to the Northeast.

"What. What is that? What does it mean?" The Baron asked.

"It's telling me the location of the person on the first line. The number under that is a measurement of how far she is away and the arrow under that is the direction she is in. Hmm… Based on the number and direction, she's probably at or near Oxenfurt." Harry said to the man. The Baron looked in shock.

"Oxenfurt? How the hell did she get all the way over there?" The Baron asked in shock.

"I'll make sure to ask her once I get there." Harry said as he prepared himself to leave.

"Wait, before you go. Please take this with you to give to Tamara. Tell her-… Tell her I am sorry and that I wish more than anything for her and her mother to come home." The Baron said to him as he handed him a doll.

"I'll make sure to pass it along." Harry said easily.

"And thank you for doing this sorcerer. You were right about what you said earlier. It was wrong of me to try and force the Witchers help. I just saw it as the only hope of finding my family once more." The Baron said in a rare moment of humbleness.

"It's fine, I suppose. I may not approve of the method but I can understand doing all you can to try and help a loved one." Harry replied. With that, he hopped on his own horse and galloped away before the man could say anything further. As soon as he entered the tree line of the forest, he destroyed his horse and turned it back to Earth before apparating to Oxenfurt.

As soon as he came out of the apparition, he looked around and saw he was across the river and looking at one of the bridges that led into the city. He looked around to make sure no one had seen him arrive before walking across the bridge towards the city gates. He silently cast notice-me-not charms on himself as he neared the gate. The guards didn't spare him a glance as he walked through. He cast a simple point me charm and watched as an arrow appeared in front of him pointing towards a direction in the city. That pretty much confirmed that the daughter was here. He made his way near the docks of the city. He noticed a large warship docked further down the harbor that had the royal symbol of Radovid on it.

Harry frowned as he thought about the annoying king being so close. He could basically reach out and kill him if he wanted. He held himself back though, of course. If he killed Radovid in a magical manner, it could possibly make him a martyr and make it harder to deal with the man's former subjects. He would have to think of some other way to kill the man.

Harry stopped moving as the arrow finally homed in one particular house. He narrowed his eyes as he dropped the point me spell as well as the ones keeping him hidden. He walked up to the house and knocked on it sharply. It only took a few moments for a man to open the door. Harry had to stop himself from twitching as he looked at the man in a Witch Hunters garb.

"May I help you?" The man asked as he raised his nose and looked down at Harry.

"I am here to see Tamara Strenger. Please tell her I would like a moment of her time." Harry said easily. The man's eyes narrowed at Harry.

"And what business do you have with her?"

"Familial business that shouldn't be put off. Please go get her, now." Harry said back with a glare at the man. The man looked like he wanted to say something but decided to back down instead.

"Very well." The man said as he moved to the side to allow Harry passage into the home. Harry stepped in and looked around the small room that had a staircase to the left.

"I will go and get her, you may wait here." The man said firmly. Harry nodded and pulled up a chair at the table. As the man walked up the stairs, a cat jumped on the table and stared at Harry. Harry rose an eyebrow at the feline and stared right back at it.

"Who are you then?" Harry turned to the voice and saw a young woman also come in what looked like slightly modified Witch Hunter cloth armor. She had black hair that was cut short in a way he didn't often see in this day and age.

"I am Hadrian. Your father has sent me to find you." Harry said as he pulled out the doll the man gave him to give to her. Tamara frowned immediately at his words as she took the doll and glared at it. There was silence for a moment before throwing it back at him. He caught it smoothly and put it back in his jacket.

"I have no plans to go back to that men. Ever." She said back firmly with a clear venom in her voice. Harry nodded at that. Geralt had told him about how the man was abusive to his family and he more than anyone knew what that was like.

"As is your right." Harry said easily causing the woman to freeze and look at him strangely.

"Are you not supposed to be taking me back?" She asked. Harry shrugged.

"I am sure your father would have preferred that, but I only promised to find you, I said nothing of bring you back with me." Harry told her. She smirked at that before it disappeared from her face.

"Is he also having you look for my mother or has he finally decided to leave her be?" She asked.

"I am going to go find her after this, but as I said, I have no intention of forcing her to do anything."

"There is no need to find her. I know exactly where she is. She's in Crookbag bog being held against her will by the witches that reside therel." Tamara said angrily.

"Tamara…" the man behind her said in warning.

"Witches you say? What kind of witches and why would they be keeping your mother hostage?" Harry asked. It was then that Tamara went into an explanation of how her mother and her had left Crows Perch and moved West. She talked about a creature that came from the Bog and snatched her mother. She then explained how the creature was one said to work for the witches in the bog.

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would these supposed Witches need your mother in the first place. Also, the creature you describe sounds like a Fiend. It's a rare magic user than can control monsters, especially one such as that. These witches do not sound like sorceresses. I suspect they are some sort of cursed or corrupted beings." Harry mused out loud.

"You seem to have quite the knowledge on the arcane." The man hinted as he gave a suspicious glare towards Harry. Harry raised his hand and snapped his fingers and all the candles in the house extinguished and the natural light from the outside dimmed considerably causing dark shadows in the home. He then snapped his fingers again and the light returned.

Tamara backed up suddenly and the man reached for a sword that he only realized then that he was not wearing.

"Are you done?" Harry asked in a bored tone.

"You're a sorcerer!" Tamra exclaimed.

"I am aware." Harry said back evenly.

"You have some nerve to come to Oxenfurt demon!" The man exclaimed. Harry simply rose an eyebrow.

"Nerve? You're quite mistaken. It required no bravery to come here at all. One can only be brave in the face of fear and danger. I neither fear Oxernfurt nor am I in any danger by being here. You could summon every soldier and Witch Hunter in the city and they still wouldn't be able to lay a scratch on me." Harry bragged as he looked at them in amusement. They both didn't seem to know how to respond to that.

"I-…" Tamara tried looking in horror. Harry stood which caused them to take another step back rapidly.

"Well, I think I am done here. I will inform your father of the decision you have made. I suppose I should also go save your mother now as well." Harry said as he approached the door.

"Stay away from my mother!" Tamara said finally regaining her voice.

"As soon as I save her from these witches then I probably shall. Thank you for your hospitality." Harry said as he stepped out of the home and shut the door behind him. He cast more charms for hiding in plain sight on himself before apparating as close to Crookbag Bog as he could. He looked around and could immediately feel a darkness in the air.

He walked into the bog and started towards the direction of the twisted magic that he could feel. It didn't take to long for him to notice a strange path with candies surrounding it leading deeper into the Bog. He followed it for half an hour until he came upon a small little village. It was strange because there only seemed to be children within it. He looked curiously and the children mirrored the look as they saw him approach. He stopped as he stood in front of the group.

"Hello. Is there any other adults present here?" Harry asked carefully.

"Gran's asleep right now. She's the one who takes care of us." One of the little girls said to him. Harry nodded.

"Can you go and wake her? I need to speak to her about something very important." Harry told the child. The child nodded and moved to one of the houses in this small village. The rest of the children started whispering amongst themselves. Harry took a moment to look at the biggest building where he felt all the dark magic leaking from. It was so twisted and corrupted and he was sure it wasn't even human. It was close though, which seemed to support the thought that it was from cursed or corrupted creature or creatures. He could deal with that, even at this level of power.

"Who are you?" Harry turned and saw an older grumpy looking woman that was glaring at him. Despite her glare, Harry could tell she felt fear from his presence.

"I am Hadrian. You husband has sent me to find you and your daughter. I already found your daughter so all that was left was you." Harry told her. The woman eased when hearing about her daughter but tensed again.

"I can't go back. I must stay here. I-…"

"Its fine. I understand. Can you please introduce me to you overseers?" Harry asked her kindly with a soft smile to try and put her at ease.

"They won't want to talk to you." She said back.

"I don't care. It's alright, I can introduce myself. Why don't you take all the children into the home. I don't want them to get in any trouble. I will speak to you when I am finished with the discussion." Harry told the woman.

"I can't. They'll ki-…"

"Do not worry. As I said, I will take care of all of this. Trust me." Harry said giving her a pointed look. Eventually she decided to back down and started ushering the children inside the home while Harry turned and walked towards the entrance of the large building. It was locked with magic but Harry dismantled the magic on it with a quick burst of celestial magic. Cursed magic wasn't the same as demonic but it was close enough that celestial magic was still highly effective against it.

He opened the door and immediately cast a charm to stop the horrid smell coming from inside the home. He walked in slowly and immediately approached the painting of the three naked women on the wall surrounded by lit candles.

" _Well, what do we have here?"_

" _A little sorcerer has come to visit use sisters."_

" _Should we bother asking what you want or should we dispose of the pretenses and get right to the girl?"_

"What girl?" Harry asked curiously.

" _Why the girl you are looking for dearest. The ashen haired swallow with that delicious Elder Blood flowing through her."_

"Ah. An enemy of Cirilla then. That makes you an enemy of myself as well. I won't bother with the talking then. Would you prefer to die in that picture frame or would you like to come out and actually face me?" Harry immediately asked.

" _Oh how adorable. He thinks he can-"_

" _Fiendfyre."_

As soon as the words left his mouth. Dark flames blazed to life all around him and started consuming the house. He walked out smoothly as he heard the terrifying screams coming from behind him. Fiendfyre was powerful but it also could feed on most magics and break them down. The ones protecting the witches in that picture were no exception unfortunately for them.

He exited the building and turned so he could watch it burn. It took a few more moments before something came running out of the building covered in the flame. It had a somewhat humanoid figure but it clearly was not human or anything close. It must have been one of the witches. He watched her continue to run around until the fire on her finally consumed her completely. Nothing else came out of the home itself, Harry watched as dragon made of fire destroyed the house. Harry concentrated heavily to make sure the cursed flame did not spread further than the house. The fire pushed and raged as it was restrained but Harry held it firmly.

After the house was completely destroyed, he extinguished the flame. He did so just in time as his concentration broke when he witnessed something large enter the courtyard. Harry turned his head and saw a large Fiend charging at him. He twitched his hand and as soon as the large monstrosity got within twenty-five feet of him, it started to lift in the air. By the time it got to him, it was already close to fifteen feet in the air just hanging above his head and roaring in clear confusion as it struggled.

Harry conjured several spears from the ground and launched it straight into the creature's undercarriage. They went straight through causing it to squeal in pain. He dropped it as he watched the blood leak out of it in large quantities. It twitched for a few moments before falling still.

"Is it over?" He looked to side and saw Anna approaching him very slowly. She couldn't seem to stop looking between the beast corpse that was now in the middle of the village or the spot of where the building the witches had resided in use to be.

"It is. The witches are dead and so is their beast." Harry replied as he turned towards her fully and looked behind her as the children started to come out of the home.

"These children will need a new home." Harry observed. Anna nodded.

"I'll take them with me." She said resolved in her choice.

"How nice. Will you be returning to your husband?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I may try and find my daughter instead." She said to him.

"She is currently in Oxenfurt." Harry said he then turned and started to wave his hands in an intricate motion causing a large carriage to seemingly form from thin air behind him that was being pulled by two large white horses.

"There, tell the horses where you want to go and if I have heard of it then they will know how to get there. The carriage will last several days before falling apart. Make sure you arrive wherever you are going by then. Here." Harry finished as he summoned a large bag of coin and handed it to her.

"There. Now you should be alright. Stay safe Anna Strenger." Harry told her.

"Wait. Why are you doing all this. Is it just because my husband asked?" She questioned. Harry shook his head.

"No. Although he has been looking for you. He sent me to find you though I never promised to bring you back with me. I plan to go back and inform him what has happened here." Harry told her.

"If my husband did not ask or promise you something. Then why go through the trouble?" She asked. Harry shrugged.

"I had the ability to help and it cost me nothing so why not? It was nothing for me to help." Hadrian replied. In truth, he just needed to do something while Geralt got to Novigrad.

"I-… Thank you young man. I will never forget this." She told him deeply. Harry nodded to her before disappearing before her very eyes and returning to Crow's Perch to give the news to the Baron. He probably would not be happy.


	18. Chapter 18

Harry was at a small Inn just outside Novigrad, and was admittedly, getting a little annoyed with Geralt. It had been a little more than a week since he had left Geralt and the man should have been here by now. If he had been walking, then it would have been understandable, but the Witcher was on horseback and would not likely dally on his way here. He had already vowed that if Geralt wasn't here in the next 24 hours, he would go out and look for the man himself.

"Oi." A voice said from behind him. Harry turned slowly from his seat on one of the benches where he had been having a cool drink to pass the time. There were several rough looking men staring at him with greed in their eyes.

"What?" Harry asked coldly. He honestly hoped these bums would try something, just so he would have something to do to pass the time.

"Fancy clothes you go there. You some kind of lording?" The man questioned.

"Something like that."

"Well it's awfully dangerous to be out here all alone milord. Luckily, me and my gents are willing to keep you safe. All we ask is for a little coin in return. Sounds like a fair deal doesn't it?"

"I'm not interested." Harry said back easily enough. At this, the man smiled at him cruelly.

"Now, no need to dismiss my offer so quickly. There are lots of dangers out there you know, trust me on this…" The man said as he walked closer and drew a dagger that he held carelessly but with a practiced ease.

"Are you too fucking stupid to not understand the word no? Do I look scared of you and the rest of your little bandit posse? Turn around and walk the hell off. It'll be the only chance you get to get out of here alive." Harry told him. He could see various other patrons getting up and leaving while some seemed to be interested on what was about to happen. The innkeeper seemed to be staying away and had fear in his eyes. He likely had run ins with these men before and knew to stay away.

"Cocky little shit aren't you? And right after we had given you such a generous offer. Well maybe we'll break some of your bones, and then take your gold for the trouble you've caused us." The man said. Harry stood with no words after that. He didn't even plan to use magic for this. While it was clear these men had fought before. The way they stood and moved showed they were brawlers at best. While no Witcher, Harry was skilled enough in hand to hand and his enhanced speed and strength made him quite the opponent.

The man rushed him and tried to jab at him with his blade. Harry twisted his body and let the blade move right past him. He grabbed the man's arm before he could retract it and ripped the blade out of his grasp. He then moved him with a lightning speed and slammed his knee right into the man's groin. There was a high-pitched squeal from the man as he fell to his knees and then down to the floor.

His men looked shocked and Harry used that to his advantage. He got close in to the next one and slammed his foot into the man's diaphragm causing the air to get knocked right out of him. He fell forward and Harry caught him. He then turned around and flipped the man over his shoulder, directly into one of his other attackers.

There was only one more and at this point, he wasn't looking so confident. Harry was having none of it, he raised his arms as if he was about to box the man and in one step, he was already within his guard. He jabbed his fist forward and slammed it right into the man's face. He watched as the shockwave hit his face and he fell back and onto the floor unmoving. Harry took a deep breath and straightened himself out before taking out a small sack of coins and tossing it to the innkeeper.

"For the drinks and the trouble." Harry told him as he walked out. The man just nodded slowly as he watched him leave. As he left the inn, he started walking back to Novigrad in deep thought. Perhaps he should continue without Geralt for now. He had already sent his birds out to gather information. He could find mention of Dandelion but no info on where he currently was. There was a dwarf who might know something but he didn't know him, only Geralt. He would most likely speak to him rather than Harry.

Harry sighed in annoyance but decided to sit under a tree near enough to the city and hoped that today would be the day. He started dozing lightly and began to ignore his surroundings as he waited. He wasn't sure how long he was there but he was jerked awake when he felt something hit the side of his leg. He opened his eyes and looked up. Standing next to him was the tall, grey-haired companion he had been waiting for. Harry frowned.

"You're late."

"Had some trouble at the border. Only those with some specific papers could get by." He explained. Harry frowned in annoyance.

"Could've been avoided if you had just manned up and come with me." Harry grumbled. Geralt just looked at him.

"Calm down. We're still making better time than if I had done this investigation by myself. I'd still be in Velen dealing with the baron. Speaking of, did you find his wife and daughter?" Geralt asked as they started to walk towards the gates of Novigrad.

"Of course, I did. His daughter was at Oxenfurt and his wife was being held by some evil witches in a swamp. Killed the witches and freed their prisoners." Harry told him.

"And by witches?"

"I mean cursed beings using dark magic to harm others to supplement their own power."

"I see. Sounds like it was probably better that you handled it." Geralt said as they walked under the gates into the entrance of the city.

"They had a fiend with them. You could have had fun cutting that up."

"A fiend huh? Yeah, it was definitely better that you dealt with it then."

"You sound lazy."

"Hmph." Geralt grunted as they entered a courtyard and saw what looked like a public execution. One of the people was clearly already dead considering their body was only a charred corpse. There was however a woman about to be burnt at the stake. Harry didn't need to be told what was going on here, a witch burning. His face darkened as he saw the cheering crowd and the face of terror on the woman.

"Why don't you go on ahead for a moment, I'll catch up with you momentarily." Harry told him.

"I don't mind but try and remember that were trying to keep a low profile." Geralt reminded him. Harry nodded before disappearing from the man's view. Geralt blinked before shaking his head and continuing on. Harry glided through the crowd undetected as he had a basic disillusionment charm as well as a notice-me-not charm to make sure no one would bother him.

He reached the platform and climbed up onto it smoothly. No one had noticed him still which meant there were no other magic users here or artifacts to break his illusions.

"THIS WITCH WILL BE CLEANSED IN THE ETERNAL FIRE." A priest yelled as he held a torch next to the pile of wood that the woman was on top of. He turned and lowered the torch towards the pile. Harry waved his hand smoothly in front of his form. Simultaneously, an explosive gust of wind crossed the stage and completely wiped the fire out before it could even touch the pile.

The priest frowned and then turned towards one of the guards and told him to bring another torch and more oil. A guard ran up with another set and gave the equipment to the priest. At this point, the crowd stopped jeering and started murmuring amongst themselves. The priest took the oil lamp and was about to pour a coat of it to soak the tip of the torch. Harry waved his hand again and another gust of wind came through from a different direction. This one blew the priest right off the stage and onto the courtyard floor. He threw the oil lamp up into the air as he fell back and it dropped on top of him spilling all over.

As this was happening, the torch that had blown out early and was smoking relit and rolled slowly off the stage as well. The crowd's eyes widened in shock as they watched the torch slowly roll off and landed directly on top of the priest covered in oil. The priest immediately started screaming in terror as he burst into flames. He jumped in a panic and started running through the crowd causing it to disperse as everyone tried to run from him in terror.

Harry smirked as he walked up towards the woman tied up. He took the disillusionment charm off his form and widened it in a circle around him until it encompassed both him and the woman. The woman looked down at him.

"Who are you?" She asked in fright.

"Hadrian Black. King of the Avalonian Empire. Who are you?"

"I-…Felicia Cora."

"Wonderful to meet you Felicia. I am going to help you get down and then help you get out of the city. Is that alright with you?" He asked as if he hadn't just caused a massive panic in the middle of a populated courtyard, a panic which was still happening around them.

"YES, please! I'll do anything!" she yelled down to him.

Harry held out his hand. The ropes around her dropped and he started levitating her down before she could fall. As soon as he tried to drop her on the ground, she almost collapsed again causing him to reach out and grab her. He looked her over and saw her body was badly beaten. She must have been weak from the torture.

"Sorry about that. I forgot that you probably wouldn't be able to stand unassisted. Hmm. Most of your wounds are scabbed over to some extent. You're probably in a good enough shape to apparate. Hold on tight. This is going to be disconcerting for you." Harry told her as he reached under her and lifted her in a bridal carry. The woman yelped at the unexpected movement but Harry ignored it. He frowned for a moment. If he wanted to get her help and also come back. He couldn't take her all the way back to Avalon, it was too far. He could make it to Ard Calleigh though. Its facilities weren't as good but it was better than most other places so she should be fine.

"Hold on tight and don't move to much otherwise you might leave something behind." Harry told her. She just looked at him confused.

"What are you…"

With a soft crack, they disappeared from the courtyard and split second later they were in a building where people were moving about in healer clothes attending to people who were in various states of some distress. Several healers looked towards him and he could see a few of their eyes widening.

"King Hadrian!"

"No time for chatting. This woman needs medical attention right now. I am leaving her in your care. I shall be paying for any medical expenses she accrues while here. I would be most upset if anything happened while she is under your care. Am I understood?" He asked with a slight glare. After a moment of a lot of bowing and reassurances, he handed her to them.

"Thank you, King Hadrian." Felicia told him sincerely as she was taken away.

"Of course." Harry said with a nod and smile to her. A moment later and he was back at Novigrad without anyone the wiser. Harry immediately threw up a tracking charm to locate Geralt and started walking through the city. It took him maybe an hour before he found his companion. It seemed he had found a familiar face as well.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Harry asked rhetorically as he approached. The redhead next to him tensed and turned towards him but Geralt was still at ease as he did so, clearly recognizing his voice.

"Harry. That didn't take too long."

"Of course, it didn't. Who do you think you're talking too?"

"And all that noise I heard earlier? You didn't cause any issues for us did you? We're not about to be run out of the city are we?"

"Geralt, please. You're insulting me. I accomplished my goal with none being the wiser. And, as a bonus, I also got to set an annoying priest on fire. That's a double win in my book."

"Hmph. Anyway, this is…" Geralt said gesturing to his companion.

"Triss Merigold, yes I know. We've met." Harry said. Both Geralt and Triss frowned at that.

"You have?"

"We have?"

Harry nodded, "Oh yes. It was several years ago, I believe you were climbing Kaer Morhen to meet Cirilla for the first time." Harry said to her. Geralt looked even more confused while Triss looked shocked.

"That was you?"

"Indeed. Lovely to see you again Triss. You look like you haven't aged a day." Harry joked, considering sorcerers could change their appearance and look pretty much anyway they wanted.

"I… yes. It is good to see you again as well. What have you been up to?" She asked clearly unsure of what to say.

"I've been good. I formed a kingdom and am currently the ruler of the biggest Northern Kingdom left. What about you? I hear you have been helping magic users across the border. Though I wasn't aware you were in Novigrad." Harry said back.

"Why did you meet Triss on her way to Kaer Morhen?" Geralt asked.

"Hmm? Oh, she was in the middle of a snow storm and it was getting bad so I gave her a bit of a rest point." Harry said easily. Geralt frowned for a moment but said nothing else.

"Where are you two going?" Harry asked.

"We just finished up some business at a granary. Triss is about to go home. I still have some business to do for our quest." Geralt said. Harry nodded.

"Well then, we best be off then. We're already behind." Harry said. Geralt and Triss said goodbye. Harry bid her goodbye as well before they separated.

"Well, that was awkward." Harry stated as they walked away.

"What?"

"I mean c'mon. Let's not pretend you didn't have an intimate relationship with her and that she's still not hung up on you. Plus, you definitely still feel something for her. I can tell." Harry told him.

"Hmph… You're right. I do still care for Triss, but…"

"But you love Yennefer." Harry said in understanding. Geralt nodded.

"Yes. Triss will always mean something but Yennefer will always be my love." Geralt said. Harry nodded.

They continued walking until they came up to a house with several thugs outside of it clearly trying to break in.

"This the place?" Harry asked.

"Yep."

"You wanna take this one?"

"Fine."

Geralt moved forward and approached the vagrants. Harry stopped paying attention to what was being said and it soon didn't matter as Geralt started beating the vagrant's unconscious with his fist. In a few moments they were down.

"That didn't take long." Harry said as he approached and subtly waved his hand over the downed bodies.

"What are you doing?"

"Erasing their memories and telling them to skip town when they wake up." Harry said as he finished and stepped over the bodies. Geralt moved to the door and Harry unlocked it with a simple spell as they stepped in.

"Whose house is this?" Harry asked.

"Dandelion's."

"Ahh."

Geralt started doing his investigation and Harry let him as he moved over to the owl that was sitting on a perch in the house. Harry stood in front of it and looked at it blankly for a moment.

"Alright you fucking tossers. You get ready for a…. Geralt?"

Harry turned and saw a dwarf enter the house that caused Harry to raise an eyebrow.

"Zoltan." Geralt said in greeting as he turned around.

"Geralt you old rascal. Hahaha. What are you doing here?" Zoltan asked as they greeted each other. They soon were talking and discussing with each other like old friends. Harry let them catch up for a moment and talk until Geralt pointed to him.

"This is Harry."

"Nice to meet you." Harry said politely.

"So, you're helping Geralt look for his little Sparrow, are you?"

"Indeed I am. May I ask you a question?" Harry asked.

"Okay."

"Why do you have a pet sorcerer?" Harry asked.

"Excuse me?"

"The owl. It's a transformed sorcerer. Why do you have it here?"

"I have no idea what you're talking…." He was cut off as Harry unlocked the chain that was wrapped around the owl's leg. Almost immediately the owl started growing extremely quickly and glowing. A moment later and a ruffled woman appeared.

She was attractive to be sure, wearing what was probably a once beautiful, if not provocative, dress. Now it was a little torn and had dirt on it in various places. There was also the rather conspicuous blindfold covering her eyes.

"Phillipa Eilhart… Great. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, King Hadrian." She said calling him out. Harry rose an eyebrow. He wasn't exactly hiding his identity but he was surprised she recognized him, especially since she was blind.

"Phillipa, I am three seconds away from putting you back into that owl body of yours permanently, especially since you know information that I would definitely prefer you didn't know." Harry said, referencing the fact that she clearly heard the entire conversation about what he and Geralt were doing.

"Hmph. I am simply keeping out of the eyes of Radovid, until I am ready to deal with him." She said darkly. Harry stared at her hard for a moment.

"Geralt, why don't you and Zoltan go figure out our next steps. Me and Phillipa need to have a talk." Harry told him.

"Alright." Geralt said as he and his dwarf friend exited the house. As soon as they did so. Harry cast several wards on the room to prevent entry… as well as escape. Phillipa frowned. Harry summoned two chairs for them both to sit down on.

"Sit."

"Fine."

They both sat across from each other in silence as Harry glared at the woman. Phillipa, as far as he was concerned, was one of the most dangerous sorceresses currently alive. While not the most powerful in the Lodge, she was definitely the most ruthless of her sister sorceresses. Not only that but her political background made her even more dangerous.

"Why are you pretending to be an owl for a dwarf?" Harry started.

"You're a smart man, your grace. I am sure you know why."

"You're hiding from Radovid. You picked Novigrad because they're holding off the Redanian forces so Radovid can't get in and know you're here. So more specifically, why Zoltan?"

"It's… complicated."

"Uncomplicate it so I have a reason to not use you as target practice please."

"My, your even more aggressive then I have heard."

"Sheala has a bigger mouth than I thought." Harry said back. Phillipa tilted her head but didn't deny it. She didn't need to. One, Harry wouldn't have been fooled and two, Harry was clearly looking for a reason to get rid of her and lying would have been a perfect one.

"Anyway, I'll confess that my reasons for being in such a situation are not my own."

"I figured that with the magic suppression chain around your ankle. So, you came to Novigrad but something happened that caused you to get captured. Not by the witch hunters though since they would have loved to hand you over to Radovid. It also wouldn't explain why you were trapped as an owl. So… you were tricked? Am I getting closer?"

"I have a feeling there's no answer I can give that would make you believe otherwise to what you have already concluded on your own so I will admit you to being correct in your guess." Phillipa admitted begrudgingly.

"Explain further please." Harry commanded slipping into his monarch voice. Phillipa was a fellow magic user but also one that was an advisor and de facto ruler of rival kingdom. He would be more than within his right to deal with her as he sees fit.

"As you may know, Radovid took my eyes. I had a… former colleague in Novigrad who I thought could help me regain my eyesight by re-growing the tissues on precious stone."

"Hmm, something that would be hard to do without eyes because of the efficiency required. Though I must say, it may have restored your eyesight but unless you had some surprising breakthroughs in bio-magical engineering, I can't imagine it would be… comfortable." Harry pointed out.

"I can live with pain. I cannot live without my eyes." Phillipa said in annoyance.

"I see."

Harry thought on that for a moment. He could help her. Regrowing tissues was a rather rare thing magic-wise and was a semi recent discovery in this world. In his world, there was a potion that could regrow tissue perfectly suited to the host in a painless process. As long as the wound was not inflicted through a magic spell or something similar than it should not be a problem. Of course, did he even want to help Phillipa? It may put her in his debt, but he wasn't sure if he believed she would honor that. She was a woman who did whatever she thought was in her best interest.

"So, where do we go from here."

"I am unsure. I don't know what to do with you. You know too much about what is happening already for my comfort. What's worse, with your former… position, I have no reason to place any trust in you. In all honesty, the best thing to do would be to kill you right now, regardless how I feel about your current condition." Harry finished.

"An understandable conclusion. Very well. Based on your impressive reputation and known magical repertoire, I doubt I could take you on at my best, let alone in my current condition. So, what can I do to show that I will not be a threat?"

"You tell me."

"Hmm. A magical vow perhaps?"

"Continue."

"Let's negotiate."

"Negotiate huh? You're quite the wordsmith from what I know. You're also known to be able to use loopholes to get around contracts." Harry pointed out.

"So, what do you suggest… besides killing me?"

"Hmm. I suppose I can carve some runes into you that will make sure you're not a threat." Harry said with a shrug.

"…. And what kind of runes would you be putting on me?"

"Mmm. I suppose I could just put a basic kill rune on you. It'll allow me to kill you from anywhere at anytime should you betray me in anyway." Harry replied nonchalantly.

"You want me to agree to allowing you to put a rune that'll kill me at any moment on my body?"

"Want is a strong word. I really want to not have to worry about you knowing things you shouldn't. You WANTED to have a way to assure me I wouldn't need to worry about that while also keeping you alive. This is what I call a compromise."

"It's a hostile negotiation."

"Maybe, but the way that the lodge has been interacting with me and my Empire is troublesome. Honestly, the whole playing both sides thing you guys do causes me to not have a lot of trust in most of you."

"You seem to know a lot about the lodge…"

"I bet I do." Harry said without saying anything further.

"So, if I want to walk out of this room, I need to agree to this?"

"Seems like it."

"And. If I do this… How long before you take the rune off?" Phillipa asked.

"Hmm. I suppose as soon as what you know becomes obsolete."

"I don't know anything."

"You know Geralt is here, you know he is looking for Dandelion and since you have been here for a certain amount of time, even in your owl form, I bet you could even figure out why. You're intelligent after all."

"The girl."

"See? You are smart."

"I take it you are interested in her then?"

"Not in the same way as others but yes. However, I would not like that to be public knowledge among the commons or your other contacts." Harry said.

"So, I have to wait until you find her?"

"Indeed."

"Very well." Phillipa said finally.

"Great. You can go." Harry said as he dropped the makeshift wards around the building.

"Wait, I don't understand. Don't you need to put the rune on?"

"Oh, I already did."

"What?"

"I am really good with runes as well as natural manipulation of magic in my immediate vicinity. I can imprint runes with pure magic onto any surface within a 7-foot radius of me." Harry said.

"Then where did you put the rune?"

"Your lower back. It's the least accessible part of your body. Also, it won't show up unless I wish it to… or its activating. Overall, you should just hope not to see it at all." Harry told her.

"Fine, may I go, your grace?"

"You may."

Harry watched her leave silently. He was sure that she had some sort of safe house and was planning to stay in town. It was either that or make a run for the border. She could always set up a portal as well. Just to be safe, he silently instructed his little birds to keep an eye on her after this meeting.

Harry sat and looked around the apartment. He was curious if Geralt found Dandelion yet. He hadn't seen the man with his spies the entire time he had scouted the city. He had decided to wait until Geralt had come to track the man down. Mainly because Dandelion didn't know him so he even if he did find the man and questioned him about Ciri he wouldn't say anything. Geralt was necessary to find anything. If he came back today without anything then he would throw out some tracking charms. As long as he wasn't hidden behind heavy wards that is. Harry waited several hours until it was night time in which both Zoltan and Geralt arrived.

"Well look whose back. You find anything?"

"Yes. Ciri was here. She came to Dandelion searching for something from one of the local gang bosses. They tried to steal it and both have gone missing."

"Did you find out where Dandelion was?" Harry asked.

"I have some leads but I am still looking."

"Then why don't we sleep here for the night and tomorrow I'll throw out some tracking charms."

"Why didn't you do that today?"

"Wasn't sure if it would be needed at first. Then there was the whole Phillipa incident."

"And what did you do with Eilhart. Did you kill her?"

"No, I put a failsafe on her to make sure she keeps quiet on our little investigation." Harry told her.

"Must have been some failsafe. Even I know how slippery she is which means you must view her as an extremely deadly risk."

"I put an extremely deadly failsafe on her. Now let's sleep for a couple of hours to recharge our batteries and then go find your friend and hopefully Ciri." Harry said.

"Hmph, fine."

Zoltan was kind enough to make up a couple of spare cots for them. He softened his up a little with magic which Geralt scoffed at him for. He told the old man to shut up and laid down on the bed. He closed his eyes and waited for the sleep to take him. He could handle less sleep than the average person but he was no Witcher. Therefore, when he opened his eyes again, Geralt was standing over him and waking him looking perfectly rested. Harry blinked the remaining sleep out of his and stood.

"Well, I am so glad we are all up and totally well rested after waking from… 4 hours of sleep." Harry said as he cast a charm to see the time. It was just past midnight.

"Best time for investigation is the middle of the night when most are asleep." Geralt pointed out.

"You are right, of course. Let's get to it." Harry said as he cast a cleaning charm on both of them before walking down the stairs and out the door.

Harry raised his hands and cast the tracking charm. A golden arrow appeared over it and started spinning for a moment before settling in a direction.

"Hmm. He's southwest of our position. Let's head out." Harry said. Geralt nodded and they headed through the city. Harry watched the different faces pass by. It seemed like there were a lot of… criminal-like people on the streets. Also, a lot of prostitutes.

Some eyeballed them but after taking another look at Geralt who was clearly armored up and carrying a couple of swords. At least they left them alone. Eventually, the spell took them to the walls of the city. Harry frowned.

"He's not in the city. We need to make our way over to the nearest gate." Harry said. Geralt nodded and they moved down another path towards the nearest gate. When they got to the gates, the guards didn't even look twice at them. They looked both drunk and tired.

They crossed a bridge and Harry watched the small floating arrow in hand start shifting which meant they were closing in. He looked up and saw a guarded building that they were approaching. He tilted his hand and watched the arrow shift to continue pointing at the building. He cancelled the spell and nudged Geralt before gesturing towards the building. The man looked over and nodded.

"How do you want to do this?"

"I doubt they'll willingly let us in considering its guarded. They seem much more alert than the rest of the guards we have seen tonight. Hmm, we either kill our way through or you let me sneak in by myself.

"Hmm. Fine, I'll let you in by yourself. How long do you think it would take?"

"Ten minutes or less."

"If you're not back in 30 minutes then I'll make my way in."

"Perfect. See you soon." Harry said as he made his was to the side of the building away from the main entrance to avoid being seen. He cast silencing spells on himself as well as a disillusionment charm. He used a sticking charm to help him scale the walls. Once on top of the wall, he looked down at the courtyard and saw it was rather guarded on the inside as well. The guards seemed to be doing some basic patrolling.

Harry waited a moment before hopping down and making his way across the courtyard. He waited for a moment before all the guards were out of sight before opening the door into the main building. The insides were rather small but still had a few people that looked to be playing gwent in a corner together. He waited for a moment before making his way past. He found some stairs and made his way down into the basement.

There were several doors so he cast his tracking charm once more and walked by the doors until the tracking charm pointed at a door. He cancelled it and cast a simple unlocking charm on the door before opening it. He saw a man in a purple outfit sleeping on a cot on the side of the room. He closed the door and re locked it behind him. He walked over and woke the man he could now identify was indeed Dandelion. He shook the man slightly and watched as his eyes started opening slowly.

"Wake please."

"Ugh my head. I think I have a headache."

"Oh, my bad. Should we postpone this escape until you feel better?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Escape… what?" Dandelion said as he cleared his eyes and looked at him in confusion, "Who are you?"

"Harry. I'm a sorcerer currently partnered with your friend Geralt to help you escape." Harry told him. Dandelion's eyes lit up.

"Geralt? You came with Geralt? I knew he would come help me. I knew sooner or later he would come here about… Well anyway, can we go?"

"Of course, I am going to teleport us. It will be disconcerting. Please hold on carefully to me at all times." Harry said. Dandelion eagerly grabbed on to him and in a moment, they were no longer in the holding cell but outside the wall and next to Geralt.

"That was fast." Geralt commented as he looked over his friend.

"Geralt!" Dandelion exclaimed as Harry dropped his charms. Harry frowned and slapped the back of the man's head.

"Are you stupid? We're still right next to the prison and it's the middle of the night. Stay quiet." Harry hissed.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Dandelion said quietly in embarrassment.

"It's good to see you Dandelion. Are you hurt?" Geralt asked.

"I'm okay. It's not like I'm related to magic users or anything so they didn't treat me too bad. Though Menge did question me a bit."

"Who is Menge?" Harry asked.

"The leader of the Witch Hunters in Novigrad. I ran into him when we first split off from each other for the first time."

"He a problem?" Harry asked.

"He might be. We did just break out one of his prisoners. I doubt it will be too long before he finds that out and issues a search party." Geralt pointed out.

"Okay, then lets just skip town." Harry suggested.

"Oh uh, I live here. I would prefer to not do that." Dandelion said. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Urgh, fine. I'll kill Menge and his Witch Hunters. You go with Geralt and start talking. I'll meet you at his place. Sound good?"

"Well you can't just walk in and kill him." Dandelion said skeptically.

"Yeah, I can. I'll be back soon."

"Fine."

"See you soon."

And with that, Harry apparated away and back into Novigrad. In the next moment, he was on one of the tallest buildings in the city and looking down. There was really only one military-esque compound besides the barracks for the city guards. He looked down and saw that it too did not look very busy which wasn't surprising. He memorized the size of the compound for a moment before thinking on what he should do.

Nothing to high profile, he didn't want to burn down the whole city on accident. He supposed he could just mow down all the people inside. That sounded smart. It also would be pretty cathartic for him. He hated these guys.

"Alright, let's do this…"

With that, he dropped down silently from the roof and landed in the courtyard of the outpost.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?"

Harry looked and saw two men approaching him fully armed. He waved once with a smile.

"Hello gentleman. I am a powerful sorcerer and I am here to kill everyone in this outpost." Harry said with a creepy amount of cheer. Their eyes widened then frowned before pulling out their swords.

"Don't move, you're coming with us."

"Mmm. Nope."

Harry twitched and they suddenly turned to each other before suddenly slamming into each other violently. They then suddenly had their swords banished into their own bodies killing them.

"That was easy."

He then walked over to the main building and cast and an explosive charm at the wall. He then watched the wall explode into a million pieces and everything on the other side get thrown backwards violently. There were panicked yells and screams of pain as Harry walked through the gigantic hole casually as he looked at the random people panicking inside.

"Evening gents. I thought I would just let myself in. Hope you don't mind." Harry said. It took only a moment before several men charged at him. A severe cutting charm later and four heads rolled off their respective bodies and fell too the floor.

"That wasn't hard. Don't you have some magic chains you're supposed to be trying to wrap around me.

"You're a fool if you think you can just walk in here and leave alive witch." Harry looked up lazily at a bald man wearing similar armor to the rest of the men but more formal and upper class looking.

"Menge I presume?"

"Indeed. Get a good look at me. It'll be the last face you will ever see." Menge repeated.

"Hmm. I doubt it." Harry said back.

Harry didn't waste any time as he levitated several bodies off the ground and threw them at Menge. He watched the man panic and try to dodge the flying bodies. He dodged the first one but the next three slammed into him and threw him into the wall. It was all the distraction he needed to cast another exploding charm at the downed man. He watched as Menge's eyes widened as he saw the red bolt approaching him quickly. He had no time to get up or move and the bolt collided directly into his chest causing the upper part of his body to explode everywhere leaving nothing left but a pair of legs.

"Well… that was easy. How do you people even catch any magic users that have moderate power or above?" Harry asked himself as he walked through the base and occasionally threw some spells to drop random hunters that approached him.

It only took a few more exploding charms before the outpost started to collapse around him. He then quickly exited the building. He watched as the building slowly collapsed in on itself and then settled.

"Well that didn't take too long." Harry said. Harry looked up for the first time and realized for the first time that sky had actual light in it now showing it was morning.

"Geez, I must have really taken my time with all this destruction. I suppose I should head back to Geralt. Well… maybe I should leave something here in case they come back…" Harry said. With that, Harry started casting several curses all over the place to make sure that no one would come back and rebuild it. With that, Harry apparated away back to Dandelions house.

He blinked and saw Dandelion and Geralt sitting at a table and sipping some sort of drink together looking a lot calmer and actually happy.

"You look happy." Harry commented.

"We've been waiting here for a while and have been catching up. What about you?" Geralt said.

"Menge is dead. A lot of his Witch Hunters are dead. Oh, and I cursed the land to make sure they couldn't rebuild their outpost on it." Harry said.

"Sounds productive." Geralt said.

"You really killed Menge? Wow. Geralt was right, you are good. He tells me you are helping him find Little Ciri."

"That I am. Speaking of. Did you happen to have some useful information on where she might be?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately, Dandelion could only confirm that she was not captured and no longer in Novigrad." Geralt said. Harry groaned deeply in annoyance.

"Come on!" Harry said.

"It's fine, that just leaves Skellige left." Geralt said.

"Only if she's there Geralt. If she's not then we have just wasted a whole bunch of time and lost all our leads. Please for the love of God let Yennefer have found something." Harry said talking to himself at the end.

"It's fine. I'm confident that we will find something tangible in Skellige." Geralt said calmly. Harry eyed him for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding.

"Fine, to Skellige."

"Actually, I was hoping you could do something here while I head there first." Geralt said.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Harry asked.

"Ciri made some enemies while she was here. We were hoping you could deal with that for us." Geralt said.

"Killing Ciri's enemies? I could do that. How long will it take you to reach Skellige?" Harry asked.

"About a week. Assuming the weather conditions are fair." Geralt said.

"Done. Make a list and I'll have everyone on it scratched off." Harry said.

"Not all of them need to die. I will make a note of which ones do and which ones don't." Geralt said.

"Hmph. I'm not putting too much effort into the ones I don't have to kill. They get in line or they die." Harry said.

"Fair. Also, one more thing…" Geralt drifted. Harry rose an eyebrow.

"It's Triss. She asked for our help while we were here with some projects. I told her if we had some time, we would… For old times." Geralt said as he looked at him. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but only because I doubt me killing these people will take more than a day. Also, as a chosen family member of Ciri and someone who once took care of her, I definitely would be more than happy to help her. Especially since I hated waiting for you to get here and I'll probably hate waiting for you in Skellige. Also, I have no idea what I would talk about with Yennefer. The only thing we have in common is Ciri and she's pretty much her mother. No idea what you talk about with your friends' mother. I only ever interacted with the mother of one of my friends and she tried to adopt me. Looking back on it, it was quite strange." Harry said to him.

"I see… Well, thank you, regardless of the reasons." Geralt said.

"Your welcome… So, what are we drinking."


	19. Chapter 19

**Early chapter release to honor** kur0y0kai who just had a birthday recently

 _1272_

Harry stood looking with no small amount of boredom as he watched the train of magic users being led onto a ship destined for Kovir and Poviss. He had to be honest, he didn't know there was still this many magic users and creatures still in Novigrad. You certainly wouldn't know it from simply walking around the city.

If he had not killed an outpost full of Witch Hunters earlier in the week, this would probably have been a lot harder to accomplish. Of course, there was still the Church of the Eternal Fire, though they seemed to understand that they needed to stay away. He was surprised no one had figured out that the King of Avalon was here messing around, but everyone certainly knew a powerful mage was in town. Without their attack dogs, the Church was staying away. They were still doing their annoying sermons to the masses, but they hadn't done anything to antagonize him. If they had, Harry would have gone and burnt their fancy church to the ground.

"I want to thank you again for doing this Hadrian." Triss side at his side as she looked up at him. Harry looked down at the pretty redheaded sorceresses for a moment before smiling.

"Of course, I was happy to help." He told her.

"I'm sure. So, Geralt tells me you're a friend of Ciri's?"

"Indeed, Ciri visited my world when I was about 17. Actually, when I met her, we didn't know each other that long, maybe six months. Despite our rather short time together, she helped me through a very difficult part of my life and connected with me on a level that I had not experienced with anyone else. We had quite a bit in common after all."

"So, you decided to find a way to come to this world?"

"Well, not exactly… There was this dimensional portal in my world that I knew of. I was kind of stagnating in my world so I decided to jump to a different one. I memorized the way the portal was made so I could do another jump if I wished. When I went through it though, I was expecting to land on a random world. What I did not count on was this." Harry finished as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a medallion with a snarling wolf on it.

"A Witcher medallion? Did Ciri give it to you?"

"Indeed, she did. Lucky for me too. It was the only thing that I had from another different dimension so when I went through the portal, it detected the trace residue on the medallion from this dimension and brought me here. It brought me around to the time the medallion wasn't around, but it's not exactly an accurate method. I landed about a hundred years ago to a hundred fifty years ago. Still, considering it was an unexpected surprise, I was grateful." Harry explained.

"And ever since you've been just waiting on Ciri?"

"Well, not exactly. I am a child of prophecy in my home dimension so I know what it's like from first-hand experience. I knew that every she turned, Ciri would have people trying to take advantage of her. Of course, I figured she could count on her family, but there's not too many she considers in that group. She would need a little extra help. So, I created a kingdom and I now have an army at my command. I figured Ciri could use a powerful ally that had no longing to manipulate her." Harry admitted.

"That's a lot of work to put in for someone who you only met for 6 months," Triss commented. Harry nodded in agreement.

"True, but I am someone who was always willing to go all in for my friends and loved ones. Because of my power, influence, and skill set, I can do more than the average person. That, and I have had plenty of time to do some planning and setting up. I was capable of doing a lot, so I did. Besides, not like I had anything else to do." Harry said to her.

"Well, I suppose when you put it like that…"

"Exactly… Well, I suppose I should head to Skellige. Geralt should be there or getting close at this point."

"Wait, I thought you still had to deal with Whoreson Junior?"

"He has been dealt with. Once I discovered some of his… extracurricular activities, I captured him. I have him stored somewhere and I am going to take him to Yennefer and Geralt."

"Why?"

"I am sure that they will wish to take their own pound of flesh from him once I explain the situation to them," Harry explained to her without trying to give too much away. The truth is, when Harry had found Junior, he had been absolutely disgusted with the man. After he had finished restraining the man, he spent some time making sure the girls he had found in the man's house, had a proper burial.

"That doesn't sound good. Makes me sound you're hiding something so I won't also want a turn at him."

"Hm, you're right. Still, Ciri's parents get precedence. If there's anything left, then I'll allow her older sister to have a turn." Harry told her. Triss's cheeks colored at his words and she turned to try and hide it.

"Is that what she said?"

"Hmm?"

"Ciri… Did she tell you she thought of me as an older sister?"

"Well, of course. Did she not ever tell you?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Well, we were always close, but she never outright and said it… It's nice to know she feels the same." Triss said the last part to herself. Harry smiled again.

"Well, good. Alright then, I am off. I'd hate if Geralt got there earlier than anticipated and continued on without me." Harry told her.

"Of course. Goodbye, your grace. Thank you again for your assistance." Triss said with a slight bow. Harry glared at her and she chuckled in amusement.

"Right. Hadrian then."

"There you go. Goodbye Triss. I will see you when I find the little Swallow." Harry said. With that, he apparated away from the Novigrad docks.

 _Kaer Trolde_

Harry apparated on to the top of a hill next to the town he was supposed to meet Geralt at and looked down on it. The small coastal town seemed to bathe in a somber mood which caused Harry to pause for a moment. He hoped it was nothing serious, or worse, something to do with Yennefer.

He walked calmly down the side of the hill and approached the entrance to the town. He saw a lot of the people look at him with suspicion. He wasn't surprised, the people here lived a tough life and tougher times made its people tough as well. Harry might look somewhat impressive, but he wasn't beefed or as rough looking like the people here. That, along with his comfortable looking clothes probably had many thinking he was some soft child.

He walked around a little before reaching out with his sense to see if he could notice Yennefer. She should be close by after all. As soon as he did so, he almost immediately noticed her presence. It wasn't hard to notice either. She was one of only two major magical presences nearby and both were up at the castle.

Harry then ducked behind a shack and once more apparated up further on to the mountain next to the small town and onto the bridge that led into the castle. As he appeared, he saw two guards standing in front of the entrance who looked in surprise at him. That surprise quickly turned into suspicion. Harry approached calmly.

"Greetings, I am Hadrian Black, King of the Avalonian Empire. I have come to meet with an acquaintance who should be expecting my arrival." Harry said, summoning his cold, magical presence to wrap around him to give credence to what he was saying.

The two men looked at him and then each other with uncertainty. Clearly, they had not been expecting to deal with this today.

"King Hadrian… Do you have some proof of who you claim to be?" One of the guards asked? Harry rose an eyebrow.

"Oh? Like what? Would a crown do or should I summon a storm of unholy fire to desecrate everything as far as the eye could see?" Harry asked. The two men immediately shrank as they watched black flames suddenly come to life and lazily circle around Harry. Though the heat at being so close was, no doubt extreme, the dark feeling the flames inspired within them was most likely even more terrifying.

"Er, of course. Apologies King Hadrian." The other said quickly. Immediately the flames cut out and the cold, oppressive feeling emanating from Harry cut out. He gave a curt nod in response good.

"It is fine. Now, about my request…"

"Right. Who is it you are here to see? We will need to confirm they are expecting you before letting you within our castle." The man said clearly trying to hold himself together.

"That is fine. I am meeting one, Yennefer of Vengerberg." Harry said. Immediately, a look of unpleasantness appeared on both of their faces. This didn't surprise him. Yennefer could be a difficult person to digest. She was certainly an acquired taste and her bluntness sometimes separated her from others.

"… Very well. I will go inform her." One of them said before turning and walking into the castle. It was a good thing neither of them had said anything unpleasant. Harry rather liked Yennefer and might have thrown these men off this bridge had they said something out of line.

Watching the man continue to walk towards and into the castle, Harry summoned a comfortable chair so he could sit down as he waited for the man to return. The guard that remained looked at him in surprise.

"Didn't know sorcerers could do that." He stated in surprise.

"Not all of them can. I am just special." Harry told him easily. They didn't say anything else as the other guard exited the castle and approached them both at a faster pace than when had left.

"Apologies for the wait. You are free to enter. Lady Yennefer is in the main hall with the rest of the court." The guard said. Harry nodded before walking past them smoothly. The chair disappeared as soon as he stood up from it. As he got to the castle, he walked through a rather small courtyard before going up some stairs and entering into the main hall. It would seem that there were several that were waiting on him.

He recognized Yennefer first, of course. She was the pretty brunette in a stylish black and white outfit and her characteristic necklace/choker. Next to her was an older but regal and powerful looking man who looked rather familiar to him. There was also a woman there as well. She looked regal and might even be considered if the scowl she was sporting did not ruin the look. There were others there as well, such as the other man whom he recognized to have magic and a few that were milling about the room doing their own thing.

"King Hadrian." Yennefer greeted politely. Harry's cold exterior cracked as he gave her a playful glare. She didn't seem to pick up on the playful nature though as she tensed once he did so.

"My friends and allies are too only call me Hadrian. Having titles be used in such casual conversation would imply I thought myself above you when I would prefer, we meet as equals." Harry told her. Yennefer gave him a surprised look for a moment before giving him a small smile and nod.

"Of course, you honor me."

"It was not my intention. I was simply speaking the truth." Harry told her blandly though this time, she did seem to pick up on the humor he was using as she smiled.

"Ha-ha. I like this one." The big and older man said with a short but deep laugh. Harry turned to him. He held out his hand. The man took it with ease.

"Hadrian Black, King of the Avalonian Empire, at your service." He said politely.

"Crach an Craite of Skellige, at yours." The man introduced. When he said his name, Harry's eyes lit with recognition.

"Ah, you are the nephew of the late Eist Tuirseach," Harry said. Crach frowned at the name.

"Did you know my uncle?"

"Mostly by reputation. It was your aunt Calanthe I was more familiar with. I was saddened by both their passing. Though Eist died in combat fighting for his loved ones. Not all of us can die so nobly." Harry said.

"True indeed. Good to see some on the mainland still know and respect the old ways." Crach said, seemingly pleased. Harry then turned to the scowling woman.

"I am afraid I do not know your name, my lady," Harry said clearly asking for her name. His lack of knowledge seemed to upset her. She turned her nose up at his offered hand, causing Harry to return it to his side.

"I am Birna Bran. The Queen Mother of the current King of Skellige." She said with arrogance as if he was somehow beneath her. That wasn't what had his attention though.

"Queen Mother?"

"She's the former wife of Bran." Crach said with some displeasure as he glared at the woman.

"Former?" Harry said, picking up on the word.

"Yes, you have unfortunately caught Skellige at an unfortunate time. King Bran has just passed." Yennefer told him. Harry's eyes widened at that.

"Dead? How?" He asked, not quite believing it. He had never met the man face to face, but he had seen him before. Despite his old age, he was sure he could last for some more years.

"The King was feeling old and started to hear the call of the next world. He went into the woods to hunt a bear with only a knife. The bear may have finished him but he died exactly how he wished, in battle." Crach said with pride about his uncle. Harry nodded.

"I see. You have my condolences, but I am sure your uncle will be dining in the hall of warriors by now. Has the funeral been conducted?" Harry asked.

"No, it will be tomorrow." Crach said.

"I hope you will allow me to bear witness. Though we have never met, I had great respect for your King and wish to pay those respects one last time." Harry said with some passion.

"Of course." Crach said in understanding.

"If you don't mind, I would like to talk to… Hadrian, alone." Yennefer said. The rest of the group seemed to nod and with that, Harry and Yennefer left the room, walking side by side. As soon as they were out of earshot, Harry decided to speak.

"I assume Geralt has not yet arrived?" Harry questioned.

"Not yet as far as I know."

"Unfortunate."

"It is but it is not the only issue we have." Yennefer said. Harry looked at her.

"What issues then?"

"There was recently a disaster on Ard Skellige caused by a seemingly random burst of magic." Yennefer. Harry looked at her sharply.

"Ciri?" He asked with some hope.

"I believe so, but I, unfortunately, cannot be sure. The site of the burst is controlled by Ermion and he refuses to allow me access." Yennefer told him, causing Harry to frown in annoyance. His frown then turned into one of confusion.

"That name sounds familiar."

"He's more commonly known as Mousesack." Yennefer said. Know Harry recognized the name. The man was an old druid who had even taken care of Ciri at one point in her life.

"Why is he blocking our path, I thought he would be someone who is willing to help find Ciri."

"I have no told him that is who I am hoping to find," Yennefer admitted.

"Do you not trust him with the knowledge?" Harry asked.

"It's not a matter of trust, but I would prefer to let as few people know of our true mission as possible," Yennefer revealed.

"Always one to hold the cards as close to your chest as possible," Harry commented with some amusement.

"So, you are fine with that arrangement?" She questioned.

"For now." Was all he said in response, "How do you plan to get past him then?"

"I am hoping Crach an Craite will allow it. Mousesack has to listen to him." Yennefer said.

"He's a friend of you and Geralt's is he not?" Harry asked.

"He is but it has been awhile. I was hoping to catch him in a better mood, but then Bran died."

"I see. How long do you plan to wait?"

"Not long. Tomorrow or the day after. Those on Skellige do not mourn for long." Yennefer pointed out.

"Hmm, very well. Is there anything I can do for you right now?" Harry asked.

"No. I think, for now, you should lay low. Things are already tense here without a former ruler coming for an unexpected visit. Best not to do anything to push our luck quite yet."

"Smart, though I am confident I wouldn't be caught if I wished to sneak around. Still, I will default to your wishes for now." Harry said. Yennefer nodded, seemingly relieved to hear so.

Harry stood silently on a raised platform watching as Bran was settled onto the longboat and was about to be pushed off. As he watched, Harry felt a soft shove to his side. He looked to his left and saw Yennefer trying to catch his eye. Once their gazes met, hers moved to the right of him and she gave a slight gesture for him to look in the direction that she was looking. Harry turned and immediately saw what she was talking about.

Geralt was slowly approaching the platform before stopping at the bottom. He saw several people nod at the Witcher in respect before once more paying attention to the ceremony. Harry did the same before looking back. The ceremony was somber as a man spoke in favor of the King and his journey to the next land. A woman approached the longboat. Ermion tried to stop her, but she refused his advice and continued.

She climbed onto the longboat and started to cry on top of the dead king.

"Birna should be the one to go…" He heard someone murmur.

Harry frowned, in thought. He wasn't an expert on the culture of these islands, but now that he heard that, he remembered something about that. Though he could not fault anyone for not dying just because their spouse did, it certainly did not look good that the King's mistress was willing to go with him and his wife didn't. He glanced over and saw Birna had a cold and unemotional look on her face as she watched the scene.

A moment later, as the longboat pulled away from the harbor, someone shot a flaming arrow at it and the whole thing went up in a bonfire. To her credit, he did not hear the woman scream as the flames engulfed her and her former lover. He sent a silent prayer out for her before turning away. With that, the ceremony was over and people were turning away and leaving.

Geralt approached and started offering his greetings to the various people assembled here. Harry leaned down to Yennefer.

"I will meet you at the inn after you are done here." He said before departing. He had no interest to muck around hearing the greetings that needed to be made. He had only been here a day and he was already starting to get antsy.

It didn't take long for Geralt to come into the room, though he seemed to come by himself which caused Harry to frown.

"Geralt.

"Hadrian." He said in greeting.

"At least you were on time this time."

"More luck than anything else. The trip over was… eventful." Geralt told him. Harry gave a soft chuckle.

"With you involved, I am not surprised. Where is Yennifer, did she have some other business?" Harry asked.

"There's a feast about to happen. She wants us both to join her at the keep. She… wants me to change into something more appropriate." Geralt said. Harry nodded. He had heard something about a feast, though he was not aware they would be participating in it.

"Very well, I will allow you to change and meet you there."

Harry was already quite settled into the hall with a cup of mead at a table when Geralt and Yennefer finally entered. They didn't immediately approach him, of course. Small talk needed to be made, no matter how much it annoyed him at the moment. He watched them go from guest to guest and even talk to some of the jarls of Skellige. At one point, Harry even watched Geralt get into a fist fight with one of the Jarls and lay him on his ass which caused the hall to cheer for a moment. Harry couldn't help but smirk and take a very satisfying sip from the show. Finally, the couple made their way over to him.

"Hadrian." Yennefer greeted.

"Yennefer." He returned.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Geralt said as he took him in, sitting at a table sipping mead with calmness. Harry snorted at his assertion.

"Hardly. I will admit to already becoming antsy at the lack of progress we have been making." Harry admitted.

"Then you may rest easy with the knowledge that we will be accomplishing something tonight and then hopefully tomorrow as well." Yennefer said, sitting across from him as Geralt did the same. Harry scrunched his brow at hearing that. He opened his palm and silently cast a spell on the table and its surroundings.

"We may talk freely. People will hear us talking, but not comprehend what we are saying." Harry explained.

"That's handy."

"Most definitely." Harry agreed.

"So, here is what we're going to do. Tonight, we are going to break into Ermion's workshop and steal an artifact that we need to help in our locating Ciri. Ermion has been refusing our efforts so far." Yennefer replied. Harry nodded as he processed that.

"And tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"With the ceremony and feast over with, we can finally, hopefully have a more in-depth conversation with Crach and should be able to convince him to allow access to the site of the burst of magic." Yennefer said.

"Excellent. Well, we can't all leave together, that would look strange. I will claim to leave know and wait for a while until you two can sneak away." Harry said.

"My thoughts exactly." Yennefer said as she smoothly stood and had Geralt follow. Harry watched them leave and waited for a few more minutes before bidding goodnight to those still celebrating. As soon as he was outside, he made his way over to a side of the keep and disillusioned himself. He cast a warming charm on himself and waited in the snowfall for his companions.

It didn't take long for Yennefer and Geralt to sneak out. He dropped the disillusion as they approached.

"Ready?"

"Yes. Let's get this done as quickly as possible before someone notices." Geralt said.

"Come on. I know where the laboratory is." Yennefer said. The three of them went back into the keep and Yennefer led them through the unfamiliar territory. Eventually, they went down some stairs and saw a door with several crows seemingly standing watch over the door.

"Ermions little spies." Yennefer said.

"No issue. I can hide our presence from them with ease." Harry said. Before they could respond. Harry closed his eyes and pressed his hands together in an almost prayer like fashion. A ripple seemed to emit from them and Harry opened his eyes once more.

"There, they shouldn't notice us at all now," Harry said.

"Do you also have a way to get past the locked door?" Yennefer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably, but let me see what kind of enchantments he has," Harry said. Harry waved his hand smoothly in a silent diagnostic spell to see what he was dealing with. He frowned once he was finished.

"There is no magic physically protecting the door." He murmured as he cast the simplest unlocking charm he knew and heard the do click open.

"It's not surprising, I suppose. Ermion is a Druid, not a sorcerer. While powerful in nature magic, his skills outside of it are non-existent." Yennefer explained.

"Hmm. That does make sense." Harry agreed. Geralt said nothing at all until they entered the room. Inside was a cluttered roomful of all sorts of books and trinkets.

"Where would he have this thing stored."

"I'm not quite sure. Look around for clues." Yennefer said. Harry smirked and gestured to Geralt.

"Welp, your up pal," Harry told him. Geralt scoffed good naturedly before going to work. Harry had a look around as well trying to cast several revealing spells, though he had a feeling something hidden would not be hidden by magic. As Yennefer said, Ermion was a Druid, not a sorcerer.

"Hmm." Harry turned at the grunt and saw Geralt standing in front of a bronze statue of a thinking man. He approached.

"You think this is something?" Harry asked as he analyzed the statue.

"His hands are worn like something is placed and removed from it often." Geralt pointed out. Harry noticed once he pointed it out and frowned.

"A secret mechanism? Do we perhaps have to put something in his hands to open it do you think?" He asked.

"Yes. Look around for something that might be placed in his hands." Geralt said. They immediately split up and started looking around the cluttered room. Harry wasn't exactly sure what they were looking for if he was honest. There were a lot of things in the room that could fit in the statue's hands.

"Here, try this." Yennefer said, holding up a cup. Harry looked at it curiously. Why would she think it would be this? She tossed it to Geralt and he put it in the statues grasp. As soon as he did so, a noise was heard and immediately, a section of the wall disappeared and showed a secret chamber.

"Was that a guess?" Harry asked, looking at Yennefer.

"An educated one, but yes." She said with a smirk. He shrugged at that before turning his attention back to the new chamber.

"You think anything is waiting for us down there? Harry asked.

"I am sure there is." Geralt said gruffly.

"Hmm. Geralt come here and don't move." Harry ordered. The older looking man gave him a curious eye before acquiescing to his request. He immediately started casting on the man and watched as a soft blue glow appeared on his clothes before fading.

"What was that?" Geralt asked.

"I magically strengthened and reinforced your clothes so it acts more like armor. It has some weaknesses though. It can only take so many hits and strong blunted damage will still not feel great. Try to avoid getting hit." Harry told him. Geralt looked down impressed.

"So, it's like a more powerful Quen sign?"

"Hmm. Yes and no. I mean, they essentially do the same thing in trying to protect you from damage, just in different ways I suppose. If it's easier for you to think of it like that though, then sure." Harry said. Geralt nodded before they continued down. They went down some stairs and Harry was glad he had given Geralt the armor. An Earth Elemental awaited them.

After tensing for a moment, Harry calmed as he saw the elemental do nothing. He looked around the rest of the room before his eyes found an intriguing object.

"I take it that is the artifact we are looking for?" He questioned.

"Indeed, it is. The Mask of Uroboros." Yennefer said, eyeing it with a small amount of awe.

"I'm betting that thing activates the moment we go for it." Geralt said.

"Agreed. If it activates as soon as we touch it, we have a few choices. One, I can teleport us out immediately as soon as we grab it."

"There's a high chance it would be able to reach the portal and follow us if we do that." Yennefer pointed out.

"I didn't say to use a portal, I said teleport. It's pretty instantaneous." Harry corrected with a smirk. Yennefer immediately gained a fascinated look at his words, but was interrupted by Geralt before she could question him.

"What's the other option?" Geralt asked.

"We grab it and fight the elemental before exiting in a, hopefully, peaceful manner," Harry said.

"If your method of travel is instant, then I see no reason we should not attempt to use that." Yennefer said eagerly, Harry couldn't quite tell if she was saying it to avoid a fight or because she wanted to see another form of magical transport that was faster than a portal. Geralt immediately grimaced. Yennefer took notice and interrupted him before he could complain.

"Oh, don't complain too much, dear. I promise I will make it up to you after this." Yennefer said, giving her lover a sultry smirk. Geralt immediately seemed much more supportive of the idea.

"Well, if you think its better…" He said trailing off. Harry snorted at the man's actions causing the Witcher to glare at him.

"Whatever, let's grab the mask and get out of here," Harry said as he approached it. He watched Yennefer reach out and as she did so, he made sure to put a hand on the couple in preparation. As soon as she wrapped her hands around the mask, there was a groan from the elemental, not that it mattered since they disappeared with a pop.

Almost immediately, they were back in Yennefer's room back at the inn in the town. As soon as they landed, both Yennefer and Geralt started gasping as they tried to steady themselves.

"That was… unsettling." Yennefer said as she took several deep breaths.

"That's an understatement." Geralt said while copying her actions. Harry just rolled his eyes at the dramatics.

"Oh, it wasn't so bad you big whiners. You'll be happy to know that it is never as bad as the first time and the more you do it, the more comfortable it gets." Harry said.

"I should hope so." Yennefer said with some snark.

"Well, I assume that is all for the day. I am going to go find myself some sleeping accommodations since I am sure that I wouldn't appreciate sharing a room with you two tonight." Harry said with a pointed look. Yennefer just stared back unashamedly and Geralt actually smirked at him. He rolled his eyes at them. He held out his hand and gave them a bronze coin.

"Here. Rub this and say my name and it will summon me. You'll probably not know where I am staying so it'll be easier to find you than the other way around." Harry told them. Yennefer took the coin and gave it a cursory glance before nodding.

"Very well, we will see you tomorrow. Now, if you will excuse us, Geralt and I have some catching up to do." She said saucily before shoving him out of the room and shutting the door.

"Gross."

Harry looked at Geralt and Yennefer as they stood near some random men and Ermion. Judging by the fact that they dressed similarly to Ermion, he assumed they too were Druids. Harry was a little confused. He had assumed Yennefer would call him in the morning to talk to Crach but apparently, she did it with Geralt on their own and then called him once reaching this camp.

"So, you were their accomplice in this endeavor?" Ermion accused. Harry rose a questioning eyebrow at him. Did they know about the mask? He looked over at Yennefer and she nodded reluctantly.

"If you're talking about the mask, then yes. It is necessary for our task and if the circumstances weren't what they were, I would have been more opposed to doing such. Unfortunately, the stakes were too high." Harry said.

"High stakes? You know nothing of high stakes. The gods themselves will punish us for what we are about to do."

"Watch your words. Don't think that your lack of experience with such things translates to me. I have had to deal with immortal beings before and can handle myself just fine." Harry snapped at the man with a glare that seemed to cause him to back down, if only a little. Ermion looked him over for a moment.

"We will see." He said finally.

"I'm sure. Yennefer, what are we doing here?" Harry asked.

"We are going to approach the place where the magical burst was. We are going to use the mask to see what happened. While we do so, though, we need to prepare for… complications."

"I can deal with complications," Harry said. Yennefer nodded, seemingly pleased by his words.

"Good."

"No, not good. You cannot use the mask. You must return it immediately!" Ermion yelled.

"Absolutely not."

"You have no say. A King you may be but you have no influence here." Ermion said with a glare.

"I am not here as a King. I am here as someone trying to help someone they care for. No-one shall get in the way of that." Harry said simply. He had already noticed, he just needed to stall Ermion a little longer.

"And you plan to doom all of Skellige in this pursuit?"

"No, I will make sure to clean up any messes I cause. While I am not sure if I believe a bonafide god or goddess would interfere, I will make sure to stop them from destroying the islands." Harry said.

"And how do you pla-"

The man was interrupted mid-sentence as thunder rumbled violently and it started to rain. The winds picked up heavily and immediately Ermion started looking around.

"Where did she go? What did she do?" Ermion asked in a panic.

"I assume she used the mask. Oh well, no use arguing any further, not is the time for action. Geralt, let's move, your sorceress needs back up." Harry said as he took off in the direction, he saw Yennefer go towards.

It didn't take long sprinting through the forest. She was wearing the mask and there seemed to be a fog centered around her. She unleashed a torrent of lightning from her form and he saw why when he saw several forms suddenly appear and stumble once hit with lightning. He leapt forward and downwards. As he landed, he unleashed a massive quake in the direction of the creatures causing them to deeply stumble. He stood quickly and made a slashing motion with his hands and suddenly, the heads of the creatures were slashed cleanly from their bodies.

"I see you started the fun without me," Harry said to Yennefer. She took off the mask and shrugged.

"I needed to take my chance while Ermion was distracted." She said as Geralt approached. She looked at him and tossed him the mask.

"You wear the mask. I will look into your mind and see what you see. Hadrian, you can protect us I hope?" She asked while looking at him.

"You don't even have to ask. Let's get this started Harry said as he started to grab hold of his magic from within and prepared for battle.

Immediately, Geralt put on the mask and started walking. They approached a partially destroyed area where Geralt stops for a moment.

"Ciri was here and then she moves." He said. As soon as he said, more foglets appeared and approached them. Harry made a claw with one hand and raised it towards the sky. As he did so, several earth spikes sprung from the ground and impaled into the Foglets, killing them instantly.

"Let's keep going," Harry said. This repeated several times with Geralt apparently watching Ciri do battle with the Wild Hunt before moving on. As this continued, Harry continued to kill the annoying Foglets. They could make themselves invisible in the fog they produced, but Harry was sensitive to magic use and could sense it rather easily. Because of this, Harry could track them easily and could kill them without much trouble. Eventually, Yennefer and Geralt stopped moving.

"It seems, Ciri went from here to Velen." Yennefer said, seemingly disgruntled. Harry immediately felt his jaw clench.

"Is that all?" He asked, trying to contain himself.

"No, we have another lead. She appears to have an ally, a mage. You don't happen to have anything to do with that, would you?" Yennefer asked. Harry frowned at this new knowledge.

"No. As I have said, I have issues finding Ciri." Harry explained.

"Hmm. Well, we're trying to find him." Yennefer said.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" Ermion yelled rhetorically as he stormed at them. Harry sighed in annoyance and moved away to allow Yennefer to deal with the man. They began to talk and once Yennefer mentions Ciri and the Wild Hunt, Ermion's anger turns to horror.

"The Wild Hunt? After Ciri."

"Yes," Yennefer confirmed. Ermion went silent at this knowledge as he processed the new information.

"This… changes things," Ermion said. Geralt handed him back the mask.

"We apologize for deceiving you and taking the mask, but we were not sure if you would have been more opposed due to the knowledge of who was involved." Yennefer said finally. She sounded sincere, or at least as sincere as she could.

"Hmm. The mask has lost its power. It is useless now." Ermion declared.

"We know you are not happy, but there is one more trail we need to follow out here. Ciri had an ally and we're trying to track him." Geralt explained. Ermion seemed to weigh his options for a moment for nodding.

"Very well. Let us get this done with." He said. They moved over as Geralt used his enhanced senses to continue to follow a trail further into the forest. They soon came to a fallen tree and Geralt approached it.

"Can one of you?" He asked, gesturing to the fallen trunk. Harry casts a charm quickly and immediately it started floating up into the air. Beneath it, a body with rather pristine armor lay unmoving.

"A warrior of the Wild Hunt," Ermion said in horror. Geralt approached the body and examined it.

"Body has signs of being attacked with weapons. Wounds indicate magic." Geralt said.

"Unbelievable. To believe there was another attack…" Ermion said. Harry's face snapped to the man almost immediately.

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

"A village on the Isle of Hindarsfjall was attacked. Lofoten was attacked." He said. Harry immediately looked over at Yennefer and Geralt. They apparently had the same idea.

"We need to get to Lofoten right now. Every second we waste; our lead grows colder." Harry stated.

"I hate to agree, but he's right." Geralt said with reluctance, clearly knowing what was coming next.

"I'll make a portal. We're not in so much a rush that I believe we need to use your… unique methods." Yennefer said directing the last part to him.

"Buncha babies…" Harry mumbled just loud enough for them to hear. Harry watched as Yennefer opened a portal and walked through. Geralt bid goodbye to Ermion and Harry nodded to the man before following.

As soon as he was through the portal, he looked around and saw they were just outside a small looking village. It wasn't hard to see that this place indeed was attacked recently. There wasn't a single building that didn't look like it was damaged and there was a clear somber mood. Harry wasted no time to approach the village. He immediately started looking around and saw several women that he assumed were priestess's.

Harry approached the woman while Yennefer and Geralt tried to keep up.

"Excuse me," Harry said, trying to sound polite. The women look at him and seem unpleased by his interruption.

"Apologies for interrupting, but we are in a rush. Have you seen a young woman around here with ashen hair?" Harry asked. The priestesses looked at each other for a moment before one responded.

"Aye. There was a girl here who matched that description just before we were attacked. She was seen in the stables with Craven when we were attacked." The woman told him.

"Craven? Is that the man's name or title?" He asked curiously. They scowled at his question.

"Both. His name was taken after he ran from the village in its time of need to save himself." The one talking to him, spat out.

"I see. If he saw the girl last then we will need to talk to him. Where is he?" Harry asked.

"He went to Freya's Garden to try and kill Morkvarg, the vilest man to ever live. In doing so, he would have brought honor back to his name and cast off the name Craven." The woman said. Harry scowled.

"And how long ago was that?"

"Several moons."

"So, he is likely dead." Harry deduced as he looked the woman directly in the eye for a long moment. She said nothing in response and didn't seem to have much sadness for the man's death. Harry continued despite her lack of response.

"Thank you for the information, we will leave you in peace now," Harry said before walking away. Yennefer and Geralt fell in step on each side of him.

"We need to go to the garden." Yennefer said.

"No, we don't," Harry said. Yennefer frowned.

"If we can find his body, then-"

"We don't need to find his body, I have a better plan. Just follow me." Harry said. Yennefer went silent at that and followed him out of the village quietly. They reached the forest edge and entered the said forest. They went in a way before Harry stopped. Harry conjured a sharp dagger and slit a cut across his palm. He let the blood flow and drip from his hand before speaking.

" _Mors, dominum tuum a te et ostendam illi Skjall Lofoten,"_ Harry said in a murmur. As soon as the sentence was finished coming from his lips, the shadows of the forest seemed to grow darker and the air in the forest around them seemed to become thicker.

"What was that? What did you say?" Yennefer asked in confusion. Harry said nothing and waited. It only took a moment before and the ethereal blue figure came from the ground and take the shape of a young man. He looked around confused for a moment.

"Who are you?" The ghost asked in confusion.

"Hadrian Black. You are Skjall from Lofoten correct?" Harry asked. The ghost nodded in confirmation without seeming to even realize it.

"I am."

"I need you to tell me about the ashen haired girl you met before your death," Harry ordered. With that, the story immediately came pouring out of Skjall. When he was completed with that, Harry released his spirit, allowing him back into the embrace of death.

"How did you do that? I did not recognize the spell or even the language." Yennefer said, looking at him.

"It wasn't really a spell. As I have said before, Ciri and I are very similar and multiple ways. I too was a child of a powerful prophecy. Just like Ciri has the title of the Lady of Space and Time, I have the title of the Master of Death. I have a certain dominion over death and cannot die myself." Harry said.

"Ah…" Yennefer said, seemingly unsure of what to say further.

Harry was thinking to himself now. Ciri had apparently made a friend with a mage named Avallach. Now that he had a name and lead, Harry could track this man down himself and find what he knew of Ciri.

"I think we should split up," Harry said to the two. They both looked surprised at this.

"Why?"

"Know that I have a name, I can track down this man alone much faster than if we were together. I propose I find him myself and then meet up with you both after." Harry said.

"Are you sure you will be able to find him? What if he is like Ciri?" Geralt asked with uncertainty.

"There's a very low chance of that being the case. I have issues finding Ciri because dimensional and time magic is part of her very essence, it throws off my methods of tracking. Even if this man knew dimensional and time magic, it wouldn't be the same. If he's on this world, I should be able to find him." Harry told them.

"If we split, how would we meet again?" Yennefer asked.

"I say we meet at Kaer Morhen. I'm sure you have plenty of things to do to occupy yourself while I find him. Meet me there when you're ready."

"Hmm. I suppose, after seeing what you're capable of, it does make some sense." Geralt admitted.

"Excellent, then I shall say goodbye. I shall see you two soon then." Harry said before disappearing.

Harry had to admit, finding this Avallach character was a little harder than he thought it would. Not impossible though, just difficult. He clearly had magic that was made for hiding his presence, but Harry had dealt with such issues before and knew ways to get around it. It had required him to return to Avalon to conduct a few rituals, but he had finally accomplished.

After all that work and effort, he had put in, the last thing he had seen coming was him arriving back at Crows Perch. He was unsure if the spell had gone awry or if perhaps the mage had accidently picked the perfect hiding spot that no one would think of. Either way, Harry was marching through the small town and towards the keep. This time around, the guards, gave him a huge berth, which was good. Had they bothered him right now, he would have killed them.

He got into the keep and made his way to the office where he knew the Red Baron to be. He entered the office without even knocking with his spell still activated. The Baron looked up at him from his desk and looked at him with a mix of emotion.

"Sorcerer? What are you doing back here? Come to kill me?" The man asked wearily.

"No. Is there any other living creature in this room right now?"

"Urrr, no. Just me… and little Uma over there I suppose." The man said in extreme confusion. Harry looked at him.

"Uma?"

"Aye, he's in the cabinet."

Harry immediately walked over to the cabinet the man had gestured to and opened it. Out fell… something. It looked like some very ugly baby. Harry picked it up carefully and eyeballed the creature. He cast a silent diagnostic and saw it read positive. This little creature had magic, but also had it sealed and was being forced into this… thing.

"Right. I'm taking him with me. Thanks for the visit." Harry said. A moment later and popped out of the room before the man could say anything to stop him. He suddenly came out at the main door to the main hall of Kaer Morhen. He slammed his fist several times on the door loudly and waited. It didn't take long before Vesemir answered and looked at him in confusion.

"King Hadrian?"

"Just Hadrian," Harry said with a scowl.

"Right. My apologies, Hadrian then. May I ask what you are doing here?"

"I take it Geralt and Yennefer have not arrived, then?"

"Oh, they did, this afternoon in fact." He said.

"Ah, well, I have been helping them in their search for Ciri and have just found the mage who was aiding her," Harry said holding up the ugly creature thing. Vesemir looked at the ugly baby for a moment.

"That's…"

"Extremely ugly, yes, I know. This is not his true form. He is under some sort of curse." Harry explained.

"I see. Well, come on in. I am sure I can clear some room for you."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Harry said as he entered the keep. He found an empty table and immediately plopped Uma down on it. He then stunned the creature and secured him to the table. He immediately started carving runes into the table around the small body. After near an hour, almost the entire was covered in runes with a few also on the floor around the table.

"What are you doing?"

"You found him?"

Harry looked up and saw Geralt and Yennefer approaching him and looking both confused and intrigued.

"Nice to see you both too. You look… happy. Something happen while I was gone?" Harry asked without missing a beat and continuing to move around the table and placing stones around the body at strategic locations.

"We had a… productive week with each other." Yennefer said, seemingly pleased.

"What about you?" Geralt asked.

"Well, I found the mage. All that's left is to get this nasty curse off of him." Harry said still moving about.

"What kind of curse?" Yennefer asked.

"An elven one from what I can tell. I'm not sure what the curse is but I can tell what it does and how it works for the most part." Harry said.

"And you can break it without knowing the original curse?" Again, Yennefer sounded intrigued by this.

"I can. The runic array powered by these rune stones I am placing will attack each aspect of the curse being inflicted on Uma here and overload them. The curse will then become destabilized and shatter." Harry explained.

"That's quite the ability. You can do this with any curse?"

"Theoretically. It's not exactly as easy as it sounds. You need to have powerful sensitivity to magic to be able to identify how a curse works and then an encyclopedic amount of knowledge of runes to know exactly which ones to apply to attack the curse. Then, of course, you need to have the materials. These runestones I am using aren't exactly cheap and would be considered rather rare if I didn't know how to make them myself." Harry said.

"I see. So not exactly something just anyone can do." Yennefer seemed disappointed.

"Hmm," Harry said as he finished his preparations.

"Alright, let's do this… You might want to stand back. There is a very small, tiny, chance that this might explode." Harry said.

"Wha-"

"Let's go!" Harry yelled and activated the array he had spent nearly an hour and a half to complete. The whole array started glowing and immediately started pulling power from the rune stones which caused the palpable energy in the air. Both Geralt and Yennefer started backing up slowly.

Harry rose an eyebrow when he saw small arches of lightning sparked off the array and onto Uma which seemed to wake him and cause him to go into some sort of panic. Soon, Uma started glowing and didn't stop. The glow didn't stop until you couldn't even see Uma's form under the bright light covering him.

Harry shielded his eyes for a moment as the light got brighter and brighter. A few minutes and the light finally started to fade and Harry could finally uncover his eyes. He waited as the light continued to fade and got excited when the form the light had been covering appeared to be taller and much more proportional than it was previously.

The light finally faded and it revealed a very naked elf. He appeared to be a male and… somewhat handsome he supposed. Elves weren't really his type, boy or girl. The man also groaned. Harry quickly cast some numbing charms and checking over him for wounds. Oddly enough, he wasn't in too bad of shape.

"Well, that was rather successful. The man isn't in bad shape and he should be up and about very soon." Harry told them. Yennefer seemed excited and Geralt seemed to show a lot more interest than usual at that news.

"Mi-" Harry immediately turned and looked at him.

"Calm down. You are safe here. You are still very weak.

"Isle… Mis-"

"Isle of Mis… Mist? Mists? The Isles of Mists?" Harry asked as his mind started racing. Could it be? The thing he had been chasing for so long, the location of Ciri.

"He's murmuring about the Isles of Mists," Harry announced. Geralt looked at him and nodded.

"We leave in the morning.

Harry exited the portal that Yennefer had set up to help him conserve energy. It had been a combination spell between the two with Harry providing the location and she is providing the magic. Harry had never been directly on the Isle of the Mists but he had flown over them on a multitude of occasions.

As he exited, Geralt quickly followed. He looked around at the desolate island. It certainly wasn't much to look at but if Ciri was on any island, then she would be on this one, he was sure.

"You're sure this is the place."

"Positive."

They said nothing more as they started trekking up the island. Almost as soon as they leave the beach, they were attacked by Foglets. Unfortunately, Harry was not in the mood.

"Get the fuck out of my way!" Harry yelled and let out a torrent of flame that burned everything in front of him for several hundred feet in a cone shape originating from him. He could hear several unnatural screams of pain and then silence before he cut off the powerful fire spell.

"Hmm. You need to calm down. If Ciri is here, the last thing we want to do is spook her." Geralt told him with a slight glare. Harry took a breath before answering.

"Sorry. It's just… were so close. I can feel it." Harry said as he continued the trek.

"Hmm. I understand, I can feel it too, but we shouldn't lose our heads over it." Geralt said.

"You're right. Let's keep going." Harry replied. They kept moving forward but were bothered by no other creature as they pushed forward. Soon, they saw a house in the distance and almost as soon as he saw it, he could feel it. A presence he had not felt in a long time.

"Ciri." He said out loud before he broke out into a run and charged the house.

"Hadrian wait."

"She's in there. I can sense her." Harry said. As soon as he got to the door, he started pounding on it.

"Ciri, are you in there, it is Geralt and Harry," Harry yelled. He heard no response for a moment, then a sneeze. He then heard multiple voices talking to each other in a hushed angry voice.

"Who is in there? I can hear you. Open this door immediately or I'll break it down." Harry threatened.

"Go away." A voice from inside said. It was a male. Harry's mind filled with possibilities and none of them were good. He knew Ciri was in here now that he was close enough to sense her unique presence. She wasn't responding to him though, and instead; a strange male voice was and refusing him entry.

"Fuck you. _Reducto_ ," He yelled and the door was reduced to rubble in front of him. On the other side were several dwarves that were looking at him with fear.

"Where is she!" He demanded.

"She's in the other room, please just don't hurt us." One of the dwarves said. Harry ignored him as soon as he saw where he gestured and charged the room. He burst into the room and saw a bed that he immediately approached. He saw a pale female form lying in the bed with a splash of white hair draping down onto the girl's face. Harry froze after he stood over the girl. A split second later and he was looking into the now opened eyes of the groggy waking girl. Emerald met with light green. Her brow scrunched in confusion.

"Harry?"

He choked.


End file.
